Factors predicting failure in empirical antibiotic treatment

Abstract

Infections are one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the population. The choice of empirical treatment is one of the most common decisions facing the physician. This first decision has consequences in the prognosis of the patient and the costs associated with the process. This review attempts to summarize the aspects that can lead to failure of antibiotic treatment by considering microbiological and pharmacological aspects, patient profile and infectious focus control. In addition, a series of recommendations are established to minimize this risk, from the point of view of diagnostic accuracy, adequate severity stratification of the patient, knowledge of the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic aspects of antibiotics and control of the infectious focus.