209. What’s So Complicated About Complicated Staphylococcus aureus Bacteremia: Does Day 5 Matter?

Abstract

BackgroundProlonged Staphylococcus aureus bacteremia (SAB) poses challenges in clinical practice, particularly when a source is not readily identified. While SAB greater than 3 days has been identified as a risk factor for complications, little is known about risk for specific complications with each successive day of bacteremia. We sought to determine the risk for specific complications with the duration of bacteremia.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all cases of SAB between 1 January 2017 and 31 December 2017 at a 500-bed academic hospital. Adult patients (≥18 years) with at least one blood culture positive for S. aureus were identified. Patients were excluded if withdrawal of care or death occurred within 48 hours of blood culture results or if the infection was associated with a ventricular assist device. Medical records were reviewed for the duration of bacteremia, complications, treatment decisions and clinical outcomes. This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board.ResultsOne hundred forty-two discrete episodes of SAB were identified with a median age of 54 years (IQR 40–63). Most cases were community-acquired (83.8%) and 33.8% were MRSA. Active injection drug use was present in 22.5% (33.3% MRSA, 17% MSSA). The median duration of bacteremia was 2.6 days (IQR 1.8–4.6) and 3.9 days (IQR 2.2–7.5) for MSSA and MRSA, respectively. The median time to first source control procedure was twice as long with bacteremia over 5 days than with a shorter duration of bacteremia (2.6 vs. 1.3 days). Complication rates increased with bacteremia duration and bacteremia longer than 5 days was associated with significantly higher rates of endocarditis (46.2%, P < 0.001), epidural abscesses (35.9%, P = 0.001), intracranial infections (12.8%, P = 0.02), and presence of at least one endovascular nidus (76.9%, P < 0.001) compared with bacteremia less than 5 days (28.4%), but 30 day mortality rates were similar (7.7% and 9.8%, respectively).ConclusionComplication rates increase significantly with SAB greater than 5 days duration. Early source control and investigation to identify metastatic and especially endovascular foci of infection are paramount in patients with prolonged bacteremia even if complications are not discovered on initial evaluation. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.