Table 4.
Treatments and Outcomes
| Cases (n = 162) | Control (n = 88) | P Valuea | |
|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | ||
| Preculture Antimicrobials | |||
| None | 6 (3.7%) | 61 (69.3%) | <.001 |
| Vancomycin | 126 (77.8%) | 16 (18.2%) | <.001 |
| Piperacillin/Tazobactam | 49 (30.3%) | 8 (9.1%) | <.001 |
| Carbapenem | 5 (3.1%) | 0 (0.0%) | .17 |
| Cefepime | 10 (6.2%) | 1 (1.1%) | .10 |
| Ceftriaxone | 41 (25.3%) | 4 (4.6% | <.001 |
| Other | 49 (30.3%) | 13 (14.8%) | .009 |
| Time to empiric antimicrobial in hours (median, IQR) | 11.1 (6.0–26.3) | 9.1 (3.7–22.4) | .40 |
| Treatmentsb | |||
| None | 1 (0.6%) | 53 (60.2%) | <.001 |
| Antibiotics only | 64 (39.5%) | 11 (12.5%) | |
| Surgery only | 1 (0.6%) | 17 (19.3%) | |
| Antibiotics and surgery | 96 (59.3%) | 7 (8.0%) | |
| Discharge Disposition | |||
| Death | 13 (8.0%) | 5 (5.7%) | .09 |
| Home | 47 (29.0%) | 39 (44.3%) | |
| Skilled nursing/long-term care facility | 99 (61.1%) | 42 (47.7%) | |
| Against medical advice | 3 (1.9%) | 2 (2.3%) | |
Abbreviations: IQR, interquartile range; IR, interventional radiology.
a Kruskal-Wallis equality of populations rank test (continuous) or Fisher's exact (categorical) test. The null hypothesis for all tests is that means or proportions are equal in cases and controls.
b Surgery consisting of 1 or more of the following: neurosurgical debridement/drainage; IR-guided needle aspiration; spinal fusion; disc replacement; laminectomy; discectomy; foraminotomy.