Influence of antipseudomonal agents on Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization and acquisition of resistance in critically ill medical patients

• Published in: Intensive care medicine 2009-03, Vol.35 (3), p.439-447
• Main Authors: Martínez, José A., Delgado, Esther, Martí, Sara, Marco, Francesc, Vila, Jordi, Mensa, Josep, Torres, Antoni, Codina, Carles, Trilla, Antoni, Soriano, Alex, Alquezar, Aitor, Castro, Pedro, Nicolás, José M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Anesthesiology; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial agents; Biological and medical sciences; Cephalosporins - therapeutic use; Clinical death. Palliative care. Organ gift and preservation; Critical Care Medicine; Critical Illness - epidemiology; Cross Infection - epidemiology; Cross Infection - microbiology; Drug Combinations; Drug Resistance, Microbial; Drug Therapy, Combination; Emergency Medicine; Enzyme Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Female; Genes, Viral - genetics; Genotype; Hospitals; Humans; Intensive; Intensive care; Intensive care medicine; Intensive Care Units - statistics & numerical data; Male; Medical sciences; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original; Pain Medicine; Patients; Pediatrics; Pharynx - microbiology; Piperacillin - therapeutic use; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Prospective Studies; Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - genetics; Pseudomonas aeruginosa - isolation & purification; Pseudomonas Infections - drug therapy; Pseudomonas Infections - epidemiology; Pseudomonas Infections - microbiology; Quinolones - therapeutic use; Rectum - microbiology; Respiratory Mucosa - microbiology
• ISSN: 0342-4642; 1432-1238
• DOI: 10.1007/s00134-008-1326-y

Objective To assess the role of antipseudomonal agents on Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonization and acquisition of resistance. Design Prospective cohort study. Setting Two medical intensive care units. Patients and participants 346 patients admitted for ≥ 48 h. Intervention Analysis of data from an 8-month study comparing a mixing versus a cycling strategy of antibiotic use. Measurements and results Surveillance cultures from nares, pharynx, rectum, and respiratory secretions were obtained thrice weekly. Acquisition of resistance was defined as the isolation, after 48 h of ICU stay, of an isolate resistant to a given antibiotic if culture of admission samples were either negative or positive for a susceptible isolate. Emergence of resistance refers to the conversion of a defined pulsotype from susceptible to non-susceptible. Forty-four (13%) patients acquired 52 strains of P. aeruginosa . Administration of piperacillin-tazobactam for ≥ 3 days (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.09–6.27) and use of amikacin for ≥ 3 days (OR 2.6, 95% CI 1.04–6.7) were positively associated with acquisition of P. aeruginosa , whereas use of quinolones (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.1–0.7) and antipseudomonal cephalosporins (OR 0.27, 95% CI 0.08–0.9) was protective. Exposure to quinolones and cephalosporins was not associated with the acquisition of resistance, whereas it was linked with usage of all other agents. Neither quinolones nor cephalosporins were a major determinant on the emergence of resistance to themselves, as resistance to these antibiotics developed at a similar frequency in non-exposed patients. Conclusions In critically ill patients, quinolones and antipseudomonal cephalosporins may prevent the acquisition of P. aeruginosa and may have a negligible influence on the acquisition and emergence of resistance.