Pharmacotherapy
-
Multicenter Study
Outcomes of rapid identification for gram-positive bacteremia in combination with antibiotic stewardship at a community-based hospital system.
Rapid diagnostics for bloodstream infections have been shown to improve outcomes. Most studies have focused on rapid diagnostics for a single pathogen and have been conducted in academic medical centers. The Verigene Gram-Positive Blood Culture Test (BC-GP) identifies 12 gram-positive organisms and 3 genetic markers of antibiotic resistance from positive blood culture media in 2.5 hours. This study evaluates implementation of the Verigene BC-GP panel in combination with real-time support from the Antibiotic Stewardship Team (AST) in a community hospital system. ⋯ Rapid identification of gram-positive blood cultures with AST intervention decreased time to targeted antibiotic therapy, length of unnecessary antibiotic therapy for blood culture contaminants, length of stay, and overall hospital costs.
-
To determine whether a relationship exists between initial serum vancomycin trough concentrations and initial empirical vancomycin dose, patient weight, and patient age, and to determine the risks for vancomycin-associated nephrotoxicity in pediatric patients stratified by hospital setting. ⋯ No significant associations were found between initial empirical weight-based vancomycin dosing or elevated serum trough concentrations and development of nephrotoxicity in children; rather, nephrotoxicity was associated with combination therapy with vancomycin and other potentially nephrotoxic agents.
-
Observational Study
Transition from dexmedetomidine to enteral clonidine for ICU sedation: an observational pilot study.
Enteral clonidine represents a potentially less costly alternative to dexmedetomidine for sedation in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. This study describes our practice of transitioning selected adult ICU patients from dexmedetomidine to clonidine with a focus on efficacy, safety, and drug acquisition costs. ⋯ Transitioning from dexmedetomidine to clonidine may be an efficacious, safe, and less costly method of maintaining α2A -receptor agonist therapy in critically ill adults; these results warrant confirmation in expanded studies.
-
Vilazodone is a new selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) and serotonin 5-HT1a partial agonist that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat major depression. SSRI-induced seizures are rare and are more likely to be associated with larger doses and severe symptoms such as those present in serotonin syndrome. Several case reports have implicated SSRIs, buspirone, or the combination of these agents as the cause of seizures, but these reports were confounded with either coingestions or doses that exceeded FDA recommendations. ⋯ This is of particular concern in patients with a history of seizure disorder who are starting antidepressive therapy. In persons with epilepsy who are taking vilazodone and experience breakthrough seizures, practitioners should consider this drug as a potential cause of these seizures. Thus, until future research and experience with vilazodone can provide a definitive answer, clinicians should be cautious when prescribing this medication to treat depression in patients with a history of seizure disorder.
-
This case report describes a man with intractable hiccups probably caused by donepezil. The patient's symptoms were not responsive to commonly used medications for hiccups, but they were improved and completely relieved upon donepezil dose deescalation and discontinuation. We report two occasions in which the discontinuation of donepezil resulted in hiccup resolution and three occasions in which initiation of donepezil was associated with the onset of hiccups. This report contributes to the growing body of literature that describes an association between centrally acting medications and intractable hiccups.