Shortening treatment duration for uncomplicated community acquired pneumonia to align with best practice guidelines in a large academic paediatric emergency department

TL;DR

This study successfully increased the use of 5-day antibiotic treatment for pneumonia in children, aligning with updated guidelines.

Contribution

A successful quality improvement strategy to shift clinical practice to shorter antibiotic courses for pediatric pneumonia.

Findings

Educational and feedback interventions increased 5-day prescriptions from 3% to 85% in 12 months.

No significant increase in ED return visits was observed, suggesting no rise in treatment failure.

The project demonstrated effective implementation of updated antibiotic guidelines in a pediatric ED.

Abstract

Recommendations for antibiotic therapy for community acquired pneumonia recently changed from 10-day to 5-day duration. This quality improvement project aimed to change the practice of providers in an urban, free-standing children's hospital paediatric emergency department in the United States to match the updated recommendations. Improvement interventions included educational outreach, data sharing, on-site reminders, and audit-and-feedback. The project included analysis of ED return visits to monitor possible treatment failure. Interventions successfully increased 5-day antibiotic prescription rate from 3% to 85% within 12 months.

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