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Medical Pearls from the Internet Medical Association


This study looked at using CRP levels to determine when to stop antibiotics in patients with gram negative sepsis. Antibiotics were discontinued once the CRP fell by 75% from peak. Comparison was made to fixed 7 day or 14 day antibiotic treatment courses. The CRP guided approach was found non-inferior to the fixed regimens, and possibly better although their study sample size was not large enough to determine superiority.

Comment: This study suggests at the very least that it is reasonable to stop antibiotics for gram negative sepsis once the CRP falls below 75% of its peak. The average duration of antibiotics in the CRP group was 7 days, but the range was large, going from 5 days to 28 days. Intuitively this makes more sense than fixed regimens.



JAMA . 2020 Jun 2;323(21):2160-2169.    (retrieved Jun, 2020). There are currently 1090 pearls in the database. While every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy, mistakes can and do occur. Use databank at your own risk. All pearls © 2024 by the Internet Medical Association. Click Here to view more medical pearls.