Patient selection: bacteremia with antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacilli
Risk factors for 30-day mortality on multivariate analysis:
(1) inappropriate initial empirical antimicrobial therapy
(2) presentation in septic shock
(3) high risk source of the bacteremia
(4) infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa
(5) high APACHE II score (>= 16, from Table 3 based on univariate analysis)
where:
• High risk sources include lung, peritoneum and unknown source.
• Low risk sources include urinary tract, intravenous catheter, pancreas or biliary tract.
• Septic shock was the most significant predictor of mortality.
• Inappropriate antibiotic therapy is described in the preceding section (above).
