Antibiotic stewardship in NICU: De-implementing routine CRP to reduce antibiotic usage in neonates at risk for early-onset sepsis.

Abstract

Antibiotic overuse is common in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). We evaluated the change in antibiotic utilization rate (AUR) by eliminating routine CRP in the management of early-onset sepsis (EOS). Retrospective before-after cohort study in a Level 3B NICU. We made the following practice changes in the management of EOS: (1) stop routine CRP and (2) implement an automatic stop order (ASO) for antibiotics at 48 h. We compared the AUR, defined as any antibiotic use per 1000 patient days before and after practice change. There was an absolute reduction of 30% in AUR and a decrease in the proportion of neonates receiving antibiotics from the day of life 3-6 in postintervention period. We did not identify any case of partially treated EOS with change in practice. Elimination of routine CRP and ASO implementation for antibiotics in neonates at risk for EOS decreased AUR.