ReviewCureus2025
Enhancing Bloodstream Infection Management: A Systematic Review of Rapid Diagnostic Tests and Their Integration Into Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Impact of ddPCR panel implementation on optimizing antimicrobial therapy management in critically ill patients with bloodstream infections.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Article
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
This systematic review evaluates the effect of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) on clinical outcomes in patients with bloodstream infections (BSIs), with particular emphasis on their integration into antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs). A comprehensive literature search across PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials identified randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and post-hoc analyses that compared RDTs, including multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR), matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS), and rapid phenotypic antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST), with conventional microbiological workflows. Studies were assessed for methodological quality using the Cochrane risk of bias tool. Outcomes of interest included time to effective therapy, antimicrobial optimization, mortality, and hospital length of stay. The included RCTs consistently demonstrated that RDTs, particularly when paired with ASP interventions, accelerated therapeutic decisions and improved antibiotic targeting compared with conventional methods. Importantly, this review is novel in restricting inclusion to RCT evidence and in examining individual diagnostic modalities, offering more granular insights than prior reviews that pooled heterogeneous study types. However, variability in study design, population characteristics, and outcome definitions highlights the need for standardized research approaches and consistent integration with stewardship frameworks. Overall, the findings support the clinical value of RDTs in enhancing BSI management and optimizing antimicrobial therapy, while underscoring that their impact is maximized when embedded within structured ASPs. These results carry important implications for both high-income and resource-limited healthcare settings, reinforcing the role of diagnostic stewardship in translating rapid results into improved patient outcomes.
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.