TABLE 2.

Clinical management characteristics of cohort^a

Characteristic	No. (%)		P
	EOS group (n = 84)	i.v. group (n = 16)
ID consultation	76 (91)	13 (81)	0.28
Negative surveillance BC performedb	73 (87)	12 (75)	0.22
Within 72 h of initial positive BC	59 (70)	7 (44)	0.05
Echocardiogram performed	41 (49)	13 (81)	0.03
TTE alone	32 (38)	9 (56)	0.18
TEE alone	6 (7)	2 (13)	0.47
Both TTE and TEE	3 (4)	2 (13)	<0.01
No echocardiography	43 (51)	3 (19)	0.03
i.v. antibiotic therapy
Flucloxacillin	62 (74)	13 (81)	0.53
Cefazolin	6 (7)	2 (13)	0.47
Vancomycin	5 (6)	1 (6)	0.96
Benzylpenicillin	5 (6)	0 (0)	0.32
Other beta-lactam	4 (5)	0 (0)	0.37
No i.v. antibiotic	2 (2)	0 (0)	0.54
Oral antibiotic therapy
Flucloxacillin	60 (71)	2 (13)
Cefalexin	7 (8)	1 (6)
Other beta-lactam	5 (6)	0 (0)
Co-trimoxazole	5 (6)	0 (0)
Clindamycin	3 (4)	0 (0)
Adjunctive probenecid	5 (6)	0 (0)
No oral antibiotic	4 (5)c	13 (81)
Median antibiotic therapy duration, days (IQR)
i.v. therapy	5 (4–6)	14 (14–15)
Oral therapy	10 (9–14)	6 (2–12)
Total	16 (14–18)	14 (14–17)
EOS
EOS before 7 days of i.v. therapy	64 (76)
EOS before 10 days of i.v. therapy	82 (98)
Reasons for no oral switch prior to 14 days
Clinical decision by ID team not to switch		5 (31)
EOS advice from ID team not followed		8 (50)
Compromised oral intake/absorption		3 (19)

^aData indicate the numbers (%) of patients unless noted otherwise in column 1. EOS, early oral switch; ID, infectious diseases; BC, blood culture; TTE, transthoracic echocardiogram; TEE, transesophageal echocardiogram.

^bThe inclusion criterion for the study was the absence of a further positive BC after 72 h, rather than a documented negative, which is why not all patients had clearance BCs.

^cEOS is defined as a switch from i.v. treatment prior to 14 days.