Comparison of Length of Stay and Outcomes of Patients with Positive Versus Negative Blood Culture Results

Abstract

In the United States, sepsis is the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. The fatality rate for severe sepsis is about 40%, and treatment costs over $16 billion annually. It is critical to identify and treat the source of sepsis. While there are varying guidelines determining when to draw blood for culture, at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, blood cultures are ordered for patients with new onset of fever, immunosuppression, or a suspicion of an underlying infectious etiology. We conducted a retrospective study of patients who had blood cultures after hospital admission or in the emergency department in December 2013. We compared length of stay and outcomes of patients with positive versus negative blood cultures. There was no significant difference for length of stay or outcomes among patients with positive and negative blood cultures. For patients admitted from the emergency department, there was a longer length of stay for patients with positive cultures; however, the overall prognosis was not worse.