ArticleEuropean journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology2026
Management of community-acquired brain abscess and intracranial empyema: a survey of UK neurosurgical centres.
Article in European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology, 2026. 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.
- Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Brain Abscess: Improved Pathogen Detection, Targeted Antimicrobial Therapy, and Association with Fewer Surgical Interventions.Infection and drug resistance · 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
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWe sought to describe current perceptions and attitudes to management of of brain abscess (BA) or sub-/extra-dural empyema (SDE/EDE) in the United Kingdom (UK) to compare this to the 2024 European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases BA guidelines.
methodsWe conducted a web-based survey of infection specialists (IS) and neurosurgeons (NS) at neurosurgical centres across the UK.
resultsIS from 27/39 (69%) and NS from 18/39 (46%) UK neurosurgical centres participated. All IS reported use of a third-generation cephalosporin as empirical antibiotic therapy, 57/61 (93%) alongside metronidazole, 19/57 (33%) preferring oral metronidazole throughout treatment. Most IS (46/60, 76.7%) consider switching to oral antibiotics prior to completing 6 weeks intravenous (IV) therapy, with 33/46 (71.7%) considering a 1-2 week minimum IV duration if there has been neurosurgical intervention. Most NS (22/25, 88%) agreed that neurosurgical intervention is indicated for any BA ≥ 2.5 cm diameter, most (21/25, 84%) favouring burr hole aspiration. For SDE/EDE only 12/25 (48%) of NS would surgically intervene in all circumstances. Most IS and NS (72/76, 94.7%) would consider intrathecal antibiotics in ruptured BA with ventriculitis; only 11/74 (14%) reported experience with intracavitary antimicrobials. 44/74 (59%) reported using steroids in BA, while 20/74 (27%) reported avoiding steroids. Reimaging was favoured at 2-3 weeks by NS, IS favoured 4-8 weeks, or not reimaging.
conclusionThere are areas of marked variation in the management of BA and SDE/EDE in the UK, particularly early switch from IV to oral antibiotics, SDE surgery, repeat brain imaging and use of steroids.
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.