Reducing Repeat Blood Cultures in Febrile Neutropenia: A Single-Center Experience

Resource type
Journal Article
Authors/contributors
Title
Reducing Repeat Blood Cultures in Febrile Neutropenia: A Single-Center Experience
Abstract
Abstract Background Limited data exist to guide blood culture ordering in persistent febrile neutropenia (FN), resulting in substantial variation in practice. Unnecessary repeat blood cultures have been associated with patient harm including increased antimicrobial exposure, hospital length of stay, catheter removal, and overall cost. Methods We conducted a single-center study of adult hematology-oncology patients with ≥3 days of FN. The yield of blood cultures was first evaluated in a 2-year historical cohort. Additionally, a pilot pre-/postintervention study was performed in non–stem cell transplant (SCT) patients following a change in our population clinical practice guideline from a recommendation of daily blood cultures to a clinically guided approach. The primary outcome was cultures collected per days of FN after day 3 of persistent FN. Results One hundred forty-six episodes of ≥3 days of FN in 108 patients were identified during the historical period. Day 1 blood cultures were positive in 23 of 146 (16%) episodes. Blood cultures were drawn on 374 of 513 (73%) subsequent episode-days (day 2–12) and were negative in 366 of 374 (98%). After the intervention, a 53% decrease was observed in the rate of total blood cultures collected (1.4 preintervention vs 0.7 postintervention; P = .03). Blood cultures obtained after 48 hours rarely yielded clinically significant organisms. Conclusions Repeat blood cultures are low-yield in persistent FN without new clinical change. A pilot intervention in non-SCT patients successfully reduced the frequency of blood culture collection.
Publication
Open Forum Infectious Diseases
Date
2022-11-02
Volume
9
Issue
11
Pages
ofac521
Accessed
12/2/22, 3:16 PM
ISSN
2328-8957
Short Title
Reducing Repeat Blood Cultures in Febrile Neutropenia
Language
en
Library Catalog
DOI.org (Crossref)
Citation
Robinson, E. D., Keng, M. K., Thomas, T. D., Cox, H. L., Park, S. C., & Mathers, A. J. (2022). Reducing Repeat Blood Cultures in Febrile Neutropenia: A Single-Center Experience. Open Forum Infectious Diseases, 9(11), ofac521. https://doi.org/10.1093/ofid/ofac521
HEME-ONC AND CELLULAR THERAPIES
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