SynthesisFrontiers in medicine2025
Antibiotic treatment for 7 days versus 14 days in patients with uncomplicated bloodstream infections: a Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials and trial sequential analysis.
Synthesis in Frontiers in medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The optimal duration of antibiotic therapy for bloodstream infections (BSI) remains a topic of ongoing debate. To address this, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of 7-day and 14-day antibiotic regimens in the treatment of BSI. Methods: We performed a comprehensive search of PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from the inception of these databases up to March 10th, 2025. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing 7-day and 14-day antibiotic regimens for the treatment of BSI will be included. The Cochrane risk of bias assessment tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias. The primary outcomes were all-cause mortality, 90-day mortality, while secondary outcomes included relapsed bacteremia, readmissions or prolongation of hospitalization, suppurative complications, emergence of resistance, length of stay in hospital, and adverse events. Trial sequential analysis (TSA) was then conducted. Results: The meta-analysis included four RCTs involving 4,794 patients. The results indicated no statistically significant differences between the 7-day and 14-day antibiotic regimens in terms of all-cause mortality (RR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.73-1.25, Conclusion: For BSI, the 7-day antibiotic regimen was associated with a significantly shorter length of stay in hospital compared to the 14-day regimen, while demonstrated comparable efficacy and safety outcomes. From this perspective, a 7-day antibiotic regimen seems to be more advisable. However, it is imperative to conduct additional large-scale RCTs to validate and substantiate our findings. Systematic review registration: Registration ID: CRD42024617359; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/view/CRD42024617359.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.