ReviewJournal of thoracic disease2016
Duration of antibiotic therapy in the intensive care unit.
Review in Journal of thoracic disease, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 36 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
36 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antibiotic duration in native and periprosthetic joint infections : a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Bone & joint open · 2026Pooled it
- Lower gastrointestinal tract dysbiosis in persistent critical illness: a systematic review.Journal of medical microbiology · 2024Pooled it
- Inappropriate antibiotic utilization in hospitalized patients in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Review
- Antimicrobial resistance and carbapenemase production among gram-negative bacteria in a newly established hospital.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Article
- Duration of antibiotic therapy: with or without biomarkers?Acute and critical care · 2026Article
- Immunopharmacological Insights intoCurrent pharmaceutical design · 2025Review
- The Impact of Pneumonia PCR Panel Testing in the PICU: A Quality Improvement Study.Journal of pediatric intensive care · 2024Article
- Advancing understanding and management of invasive fungal diseases in the intensive care unit: Insights from FUNDICU consensus definitions.Journal of intensive medicine · 2024Article
- When to Stop Antibiotics in the Critically Ill?Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Bacterial contamination on clinical surfaces and oxygen device accessories in the emergency unit of a tertiary health facility in Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Antibiotic stewardship and nosocomial infection prevention in critically ill patients: a quality improvement program.Revista da Associacao Medica Brasileira (1992) · 2024Article
- Assessing the Utility of Multiplexed Polymerase Chain Reaction in Detecting Microorganisms Causing Infections in Critically ill Patients.Current microbiology · 2023Article
- Potential therapeutic effect of3 Biotech · 2023Article
- Impact of reduced antibiotic treatment duration on antimicrobial resistance in critically ill patients in the randomized controlled SAPS-trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2023Article
- Monitoring of the Forgotten Immune System during Critical Illness-A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance patterns of microbes isolated from individuals attending private diagnostic centre in Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Tigecycline in the Treatment of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Due to Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2021Article
- Surviving Sepsis Campaign: Research Opportunities for Infection and Blood Purification Therapies.Critical care explorations · 2021Review
- Clinical value of procalcitonin in critically ill patients infected by SARS-CoV-2.The American journal of emergency medicine · 2021Observational
- Artificial Intelligence to Get Insights of Multi-Drug Resistance Risk Factors during the First 48 Hours from ICU Admission.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There are certain well defined clinical situations where prolonged therapy is beneficial, but prolonged duration of antibiotic therapy is associated with increased resistance, medicalising effects, high costs and adverse drug reactions. The best way to decrease antibiotic duration is both to stop antibiotics when not needed (sterile invasive cultures with clinical improvement), not to start antibiotics when not indicated (treating colonization) and keep the antibiotic course as short as possible. The optimal duration of antimicrobial treatment for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is unknown, however, there is a growing evidence that reduction in the length of antibiotic courses to 7-8 days can minimize the consequences of antibiotic overuse in critical care, including antibiotic resistance, adverse effects, collateral damage and costs. Biomarkers like C-reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) do have a valuable role in helping guide antibiotic duration but should be interpreted cautiously in the context of the clinical situation. On the other hand, microbiological criteria alone are not reliable and should not be used to justify a prolonged antibiotic course, as clinical cure does not equate to microbiological eradication. We do not recommend a 'one size fits all' approach and in some clinical situations, including infection with non-fermenting Gram-negative bacilli (NF-GNB) clinical evaluation is needed but shortening the antibiotic course is an effective and safe way to decrease inappropriate antibiotic exposure.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.