TABLE 4.
Uses of the routine and enhanced antibiogram by antimicrobial stewardship programs
| Use of antibiogramsa |
|---|
| Routine antibiograms |
| Selection of empirical antimicrobial therapy for individual patients |
| Development of empirical antimicrobial treatment guidelines/algorithms based on infection type (e.g., febrile neutropenia, community-acquired and/or hospital/ventilator-associated pneumonia, sepsis, urinary tract infection, diabetic foot infection, etc.) |
| Decisions regarding the antimicrobial formulary |
| Enhanced antibiograms |
| Assist with more targeted empirical therapy based on infection type, patient type, organism, isolate source, patient location, etc. Examples include Gram-negative bacilli antibiograms for inpatients, ICU patients, burns patients, outpatients, and patients with cystic fibrosis |
| Urinary tract isolate antibiograms for inpatients, ICU patients, outpatients, patients in an emergency department, and renal transplant patients |
| Blood isolate antibiograms for inpatients, ICU, patients with hematologic/oncologic disorders, burn patients |
| Streptococcus pneumoniae antibiograms for patients with community-acquired pneumonia or meningitis |
| Staphylococcus aureus antibiograms based on patient location (e.g., inpatient, outpatient/ED, ICU patients, etc.) |
| Antimicrobial agent combinations antibiograms to indicate the increased coverage with the combination over the individual antimicrobial agents alone |
a
ICU, intensive care unit; ED, emergency department.