The Effect of Early Switching From Intravenous to Oral Antibiotics Therapy

The Effect of Early Switching From Intravenous to Oral Antibiotics Therapy: a Randomized Control Trial

To date, many studies showed the great benefits of switching from IV to PO antibiotics in some infectious diseases, especially skin and soft tissue, urinary tract, respiratory tract, gallbladder, and biliary tract infection. Higher level of evidence is necessary to confirm the benefit of early switching protocol in infectious condition management. Therefore, we conducted a clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness and cost of IV-to-PO antibiotic switch therapy in some surgical infection conditions.

Introduction: The benefit of early switching from intravenous (IV) to oral (PO)was raising from the last decade. This randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effect of early switching from IV to PO antibiotics on the outcome of surgical patients at a public hospital.

Methods: Patients admitted for a therapeutic antibiotic to orthopedic and general surgery conditions were randomly assigned to three groups: control (non-switching), early switching (within 48-72 hours), and late switching (after 72 hours). The rate of effectiveness of each arm, length of hospital stay, length of IV antibiotics, and cost were recorded prospectively.

Inclusion Criteria:

• on the second day of IV antibiotic
• no difficulties on taking oral medication
• clinical improvement

Exclusion Criteria:

• n/a