182 - Missed Opportunities to Discontinue Unnecessary Vancomycin During Pharmacist Therapeutic Monitoring

Background: Unnecessary and prolonged IV vancomycin exposure increases risk of adverse drug events, notably nephrotoxicity, which may result in prolonged hospital length of stay. The purpose of this study is to identify areas of improvement in antimicrobial stewardship for vancomycin appropriateness by clinical pharmacists at the time of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM).

Methods: Retrospective, observational cohort study at an academic medical center and a community hospital. Inclusion: patient over 18 years, received at least three days of IV vancomycin where the clinical pharmacy TDM service assessed for appropriate continuation for hospital admission between June 19, 2019 and June 30, 2019. Exclusion: vancomycin prophylaxis or administered by routes other than IV. Primary outcome was to determine the frequency and clinical components of inappropriate vancomycin continuation at the time of TDM. Inappropriate vancomycin continuation was defined as cultures positive for methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), vancomycin-resistant bacteria, and non-purulent skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) in the absence of vasopressors. Data was reported using descriptive statistics and measures of central tendency.

Results: 167 patients met inclusion criteria with 38.3% from the ICU. SSTIs were most common indication 39 (23.4%) cases, followed by pneumonia and blood with 34 (20.4%) cases each. At time of vancomycin TDM assessment, vancomycin continuation was appropriate 59.3% of the time. Mean of 4.22 ± 2.69 days of appropriate vancomycin use, 2.18 ± 2.47 days of inappropriate use, and total duration 5.42 ± 2.94. 16.4% patients developed an AKI. Majority of missed opportunities were attributed to non-purulent SSTI (28.2%) and missed MRSA nares swabs in 21% pneumonia cases (table 1).

Conclusion: Vancomycin is used extensively for empiric treatment of presumed infections. Appropriate de-escalation of vancomycin therapy is important to decrease the incidence of adverse effects, decreasing hospital length of stay, and reduce development of resistance. According to the mean duration of inappropriate therapy, there are opportunities for pharmacy and antibiotic stewardship involvement at the time of TDM to optimize patient care (table 1).Missed opportunities for vancomycin de-escalation