ID consult lowers risk for death from bloodstream infection by fourfold
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Among patients with common bloodstream infections, lack of infectious disease consultation was associated with a more than fourfold increased hazard of death at 3 months, according to findings from a recently published study.
“Bloodstream infections result in high morbidity and mortality,” Supavit Chesdachai, MD, internal medicine resident in the division of infectious diseases and international medicine at the University of Minnesota, and colleagues wrote. “Multiple studies have demonstrated that infectious diseases consultation is associated with improved outcomes, especially in Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia and candidemia.”
Chesdachai and colleagues investigated the impact of ID consultation — which they noted is not mandatory at all facilities — on the mortality of patients hospitalized with MRSA, Candida and Pseudomonas bloodstream infections at the University of Minnesota Medical Center. As part of the analysis, they recorded whether an ID consultation note was present in the electronic medical record, when patients received appropriate antibiotics and whether the hospitalization included an ICU stay.
Overall, they identified 229 bloodstream infections between 2016 and 2018 — 99 with MRSA, 69 with Candida and 61 with Pseudomonas. Of these, 181 had an ID consultation. Their analysis showed that patients without ID consultation had a 4.5 increased hazard of death at 3 months (95% CI, 2.7-7.3) compared with those who received ID consultation.
Among MRSA infections, mortality with ID consultation was 22% compared with 67% without, and the median time to death in those without an ID consultation was 2 days compared with 27 days in patients who received a consultation. Among patients with candidemia infection, the researchers found that without ID consultation, 63% died, compared with 32% of patients who received an ID consultation. The rate of mortality at 3 months was 63% among patients with Pseudomonas bacteremia infection who did not receive an ID consultation, compared with 32% who did, according to the study.
Additionally, the researchers found that patients who received ID consultation were nine times more likely receive appropriate antibiotics or antifungals, six times more likely to have central lines removed and four times more likely to have echocardiography performed to evaluate patients for endocarditis.
“Our study demonstrates that ID consultation is associated with significantly lower 3-month mortality and lower inpatient mortality in persons with bloodstream infections,” the authors concluded. “The benefit of ID consultation was found for MRSA, candidemia, and extended to Pseudomonas bacteremia. Automatic ID consultation may have the potential to improve patient survival; prospective evaluation of such an intervention is warranted.” – by Caitlyn Stulpin
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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