Guidelines for the probabilistic treatment of community-acquired pneumonia: compared experience between internal medicine and emergency departments in the University Hospital of Besançon, France

• Published in: La revue de medecine interne Vol. 35; no. 4; pp. 231 - 234
• Main Authors: Gil, H, Grenier, F, Leroy, J, Tisserand, G, Meaux-Ruault, N, Magy-Bertrand, N
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: French
• Published: France 01.04.2014
• Subjects: Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Community-Acquired Infections - epidemiology; Community-Acquired Infections - therapy; Emergency Service, Hospital; Female; France - epidemiology; Guideline Adherence - statistics & numerical data; Hospital Departments; Hospitals, University; Humans; Internal Medicine; Male; Pneumonia - epidemiology; Pneumonia - therapy; Practice Guidelines as Topic; Respiratory Tract Infections - epidemiology; Respiratory Tract Infections - therapy; Retrospective Studies; France; Protéine C-réactive; C-reactive protein; Community-acquired pneumonia; Pneumopathie communautaire; Référentiel; Guidelines
• ISSN: 1768-3122
• DOI: 10.1016/j.revmed.2013.03.001

The objective of this study was to assess the application of local and national recommendations in the management of community-acquired pneumonia in an internal medicine department with an antibiotic referent physician and in an emergency department. This was a retrospective single-center study including patients admitted with community-acquired pneumonia in the internal medicine department of the University Hospital of Besançon after an initial admission in the emergency department. One hundred patients (58 women and 42 men) were included. The mean age was 79 ± 11 years. The prescriptions done in the emergency department were in accordance with local recommendations or Société de pathologie infectieuse de langue française (SPILF) recommendations in 62% of cases. The prescriptions followed the recommendations in 94% of cases in internal medicine department (P<0.05). The lack of initial antibiotic treatment had no influence on morbidity and mortality. The guidelines for infectious diseases treatment were significantly more often applied in a department where a referent physician was designated for this.