Evaluating optimal treatment durations for bloodstream infections: methodological perspectives on the choice of outcomes and sample sizes for non-inferiority design and margins

Abstract

There are an increasing number of trials evaluating the efficacy of shorter versus longer treatment durations for a variety of infections, including ventilator-associated pneumonia [1], intra-abdominal infection [2], and community-acquired pneumonia [3]. In the SHORTEN trial, Molina and colleagues tackle an important question about the optimal duration of antibiotics for Enterobacterales bacteraemia, enrolling both hospitalized patients and outpatients in a comparison of 7 versus 14 days of antibiotics, with 28 days of follow-up [4].