Situations when vancomycin use should be avoided:
(1) surgical prophylaxis when the patient does not have a life-threatening allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics or if an alternative antibiotic is available
(2) routine prophylaxis in a low-birth-weight infant
(3) routine prophylaxis in a patient on dialysis
(4) routine prophylaxis in a patient with neutropenia
(5) routine prophylaxis in a patient with a central venous catheter
(6) empirical treatment of a febrile patient with neutropenia who is not at high risk for resistant Gram-positive infection
(7) empirical treatment of a febrile low-birth-weight infant
(8) decontamination of the gastrointestinal tract
(9) use as the first line drug for patients with Clostridium difficile colitis
(10) patient with a single blood culture positive for coagulase-positive staphylococci
(11) to eradicate colonization by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
(12) use to treat a Gram-positive infection caused by organisms that are not drug-resistant
(13) use to treat an infection on dialysis solely on the basis of convenience
(14) for topical application or irrigation
