A Pilot Study to Evaluate Appropriateness of Empirical Antibiotic Use in Intensive Care Unit of King Saud Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Antibiotics are commonly administered therapies in ICU. There has been a concern over antibiotic misuse recently. ICU is both a victim and a contributor to the ongoing antibiotic misuse problem and a cause of emerging resistance among the pathogens commonly acquired in intensive care units. Because of high mortality associated with sepsis, it is a great challenge for intensive care physicians to select appropriate antibiotic sometimes without any culture and sensitivity. Similarly the time to deescalate also remains a tough call. Selection of appropriate antibiotics empirically has always been a topic of debate among Intensive Care and Infectious Disease practitioners.