Faculty Bibliography

BACKGROUND:). METHODS:The study was conducted at 2 New York City hospitals (1,082 total beds) over an 18-month period. The 3 chemicals were applied by housekeeping personnel following the hospital protocol; the use of electrostatic sprayers was incorporated into EW and NaDCC. In randomly selected rooms, 5 surfaces were sampled for microbial colony counts after cleaning. Data analyses were performed using negative binomial logistic regression. RESULTS:(difference not significant). CONCLUSIONS:The use of NaDCC for surface disinfection resulted in the lowest bacterial colony counts on patient room high touch surfaces in our study.

BACKGROUND:Standard urine sampling and testing techniques do not mitigate against detection of colonization, resulting in false positive catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI). We aim to evaluate if a novel protocol for urine sampling and testing reduces rates of CAUTI. METHODS:A pre-intervention and post-intervention study with a contemporaneous control group was conducted at two campuses (test and control) of the same academic medical center. The test campus implemented a protocol requiring urinary catheter removal prior to urine sampling from a new catheter or sterile straight catheterization, along with urine bacteria and pyuria screening prior to culture. Primary outcomes were test campus CAUTI rates compared between each 9-month pre- and post-intervention epoch. Secondary outcomes included the percent reductions in CAUTI rates compared between the test campus and a propensity-score matched cohort at the control campus. RESULTS:  A total of 7,991 patients from the test campus were included in the primary analysis, and 4,264 were included in the propensity-score matched secondary analysis. In primary analysis, CAUTI/1000-patients was reduced by 77% (6.6 to 1.5), CAUTI/1000-catheter days by 63% (5.9 to 2.2) and urinary catheter days/patient by 37% (1.1 to 0.69, all P≤0.001). In propensity score-matched analysis, CAUTI/1000-patients was reduced by 82% at the test campus versus 57% at the control campus, CAUTI/1000 catheter-days declined by 68% versus 57% and catheter-days/patient decreased by 44% versus 1% (all P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Protocolized urine sampling and testing aimed at minimizing contamination by colonization was associated with significantly reduced CAUTI infection rates and urinary catheter days.

Cutibacterium acnes is an anaerobic bacterium commonly thought of as a culture contaminant rather than a pathogen. We present a case of Cutibacterium acnes pericarditis in a 22-year-old immunocompetent woman managed with surgical pericardial window and a 4-week course of penicillin G and review related literature on Cutibacterium acnes pericarditis.

Background. Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the most common healthcare- associated infection. C. difficile PCR assays do not differentiate between colonization (seen in up to 21% of inpatients) and symptomatic disease, highlighting the importance of testing only symptomatic patients. Methods. Interventions included system-wide implementation of C. difficile testing guidelines, face-to-face education of licensed providers, and Best Practice Alerts (BPAs) embedded in the electronic health record (EHR) C. difficile PCR order. The guidelines recommend testing only when >= 3 liquid bowel movements within a 24-hour period, without laxatives, oral contrast or new enteral feeds in the preceding 24 hours, and without recent C. difficile PCR test (negative <= 7 days or positive < 30 days). We reviewed 100 consecutive C. difficile PCR orders across two hospitals preand post-intervention to assess compliance with guidelines; performed weekly review of all C. difficile PCRs, all BPA responses and all hospital-onset CDI. Cost savings were calculated based on published estimates of CDI attributable costs. Results. Hospital-onset CDI rates fell from 0.75 to 0.48 cases per 1000 patientdays, with an estimated costs savings of $259,555 per quarter and $1.04 million per year. There were no deaths due to CDI and no morbidity due to delayed CDI diagnosis. C. difficile PCR guideline compliance increased from 39% to 53%; orders decreased by 50% post-intervention. Receipt of laxatives and < 3 episodes of diarrhea were the most common reasons for guideline noncompliance. BPAs fired an average of 150 times/ month. The most common trigger for BPA was laxative use. Providers canceled PCR orders in 40% of BPA events. Conclusion. Interventions incorporating testing guidelines, face-to-face education, and EHR-embedded decision support resulted in fewer C. difficile PCRs orders, increased guideline compliance, lower rates of hospital-onset CDI and cost savings of $1 million per year without an increase in CDI-attributable death or morbidity

Background. Appropriate periprocedural antibiotic prophylaxis is critical to optimize in order to reduce excessive antibiotics exposure for patients and to minimize the risk for procedure-related infection. Wrong antibiotic or excess antibiotics increase the risk for development of antimicrobial resistance, Clostridium difficile infection, adverse side effects. Incorrect or missed antibiotic can put the patient at risk for an infection. Methods. Interventions included education of vascular and interventional radiology (IR) consult RN and physicians regarding updated institutional antimicrobial prophylaxis guidelines for vascular and IR procedures, creation of a consulting template that incorporated ongoing antibiotics. Review of recent cultures was incorporated into workflow and consult evaluation. Handoff between the IR RN and IR attendings was expanded to include a review of antimicrobials. Results. All IR cases were reviewed for antibiotic administration for 3 months preand post-intervention. In the pre-intervention timeframe, 23 of 290 procedures (7.9%) were associated with inappropriate antibiotic administration, further delineated as 6 cases where no antibiotics were given, 7 cases of inappropriate antibiotics administered, and 10 cases where extraneous antibiotics were administered. Of the 39 total procedures where antibiotics were indicated, 17 (43.6%) were associated with antibiotic errors. In the post-intervention period, only 9 of 309 total procedures (10.3%) were associated with inappropriate antibiotic administration: missed antibiotics in 3 cases, inappropriate antibiotics in 4 cases, and unnecessary antibiotics in 2 cases. Of the 32 cases where antibiotics were indicated, only 7 (21.9%) were associated with antibiotic errors. Conclusion. Incorporating current antibiotics and review of culture data in a preoperative review and template for patients who need a surgical procedure helps guide appropriate antibiotic decision-making and greatly decreases administration of unnecessary antibiotics