Skip Navigation


JAC Advance Access originally published online on July 7, 2009
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy 2009 64(3):447-453; doi:10.1093/jac/dkp245
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
64/3/447    most recent
dkp245v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Nathwani, D.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nathwani, D.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Reviews

Developments in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) for Gram-positive infections in Europe, and the potential impact of daptomycin

Dilip Nathwani*

Infection Unit, East Block, Level 4, Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, Dundee DD1 9SY, Scotland, UK

* Tel: +44-1382-660111; Fax: +44-1382-496547; E-mail: dilip.nathwani{at}nhs.net

Parenteral antimicrobial therapy is traditionally offered in the inpatient setting in many parts of the world. In the USA, the past three decades have seen an unprecedented increase in the delivery of these therapies in the non-inpatient setting, and outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) is now an established standard of care in North America. However, the uptake of OPAT within Europe has been more gradual, owing to a number of clinical, fiscal, logistical and cultural considerations. In particular, physicians who are not currently engaged in OPAT programmes frequently cite concerns over patient safety as a major barrier. However, where OPAT programmes have been established, high levels of satisfaction are reported by both patients and physicians, suggesting that many anxieties concerning the introduction of OPAT stem from a lack of patient and physician education regarding the key potential benefits associated with OPAT. As the burden of serious Gram-positive infections grows, so does the need to offer clinicians, administrators and patients alternative treatment programmes that are equally effective and safe compared with inpatient treatment, while promoting optimal use of limited healthcare resources. This article will review the European experience of OPAT, discussing the associated benefits and the potential antibiotic options, with an emphasis on the evolving experience with daptomycin.

Keywords: cost-effective , hospital-acquired infections , community , reimbursement


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J Antimicrob ChemotherHome page
N. Adriaenssens, H. Goossens, S. Coenen, and on behalf of the ESAC Project Group
Comment on: Developments in outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) for Gram-positive infections in Europe, and the potential impact of daptomycin
J. Antimicrob. Chemother., December 1, 2009; 64(6): 1347 - 1347.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.