Reducing the Time-to-Antibiotic by Adapting a Standard of Procedure for the Treatment of Pediatric Cancer Patients Presenting with Febrile Neutropenia-A Comparative Analysis of Two Patient Cohorts.
AI interpretation is pending for this paper.
Open original publication →What the AI sees
Not AI summarized yet.
Research significance
Pending deeper interpretation.
Source abstract
Background: Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a common and potentially life-threatening complication in pediatric oncology. Rapid initiation of empiric antibiotics is critical to improving prognosis. This study evaluated the impact of simple changes to a standard operating procedure (SOP) for FN treatment on the time-to-antibiotic (TTA) in pediatric cancer patients, as well as potential clinical effects. Methods: In this retrospective, single-center, cohort study, children with cancer presenting with FN at the emergency room (pedER) or oncology outpatient department (OD) were included over two one-year periods-before and after SOP adaption. The revised SOP defined a target TTA of ≤30 min. The primary endpoint was to compare median TTA and the proportion of FN episodes meeting target TTA. Secondary endpoints comprised adverse events (AEs) (e.g., ICU admission, need for respiratory or circulatory support, sepsis criteria). Results: After SOP adaption, 32.9% of episodes met target TTA, up from 5.9% before. Median TTA was significantly reduced (44 min vs. 93 min). The improvement persisted during the study period. AE rates showed no significant change. Conclusions: Simple procedural adjustments may significantly improve quality indicators of care, e.g., reducing TTA in pediatric FN patients. These adjustments may be transferable to other pediatric oncology settings.