Evaluation of Clinical Outcomes of Empiric Antimicrobial Regimens for Patients at Low Risk of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Kenneth Pawa, Madrona Boutros, Daniel Rampersad, and Dr. Tyler Maxwell
Kenneth Pawa and Madrona Boutros, along with co-authors Daniel Rampersad and TCOP's Dr. Tyler Maxwell, presented a study analyzing clinical outcomes in septic patients at low risk of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection (MRSA) who received empiric MRSA coverage, versus septic patients who did not receive empiric MRSA coverage. This retrospective cohort study analyzed patient data from the SUNY Downstate Medical Center from 2016-2022. Ultimately, the study found that withholding anti-MRSA therapy was not associated with worse clinical outcomes (inpatient mortality) in patients at low risk for MRSA.
“Our involvement in this study allowed us to evaluate the new recommendation from the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Guidelines which states: ‘For adults with sepsis or septic shock at low risk of MRSA, we suggest against using empiric antimicrobials with MRSA coverage.’ Our results from this study support current guideline recommendations from the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Guidelines. Future studies are warranted in order to analyze inpatient mortality on a larger patient scale. Future discoveries may discourage unnecessary exposure to Vancomycin as well as unnecessary patient exposure to antimicrobial therapies.” - Kenneth Pawa
