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Antimicrobial stewardship programs in European pediatric intensive care units: an international survey of practices

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Abstract

Antibiotic therapy represents one of the most common interventions in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs). This study aims to describe current antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP) in European PICUs. A cross-sectional survey distributed to European pediatric intensive care physicians through the European Society of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care (ESPNIC) Infection, Inflammation, and Sepsis Section, to members of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Intensive Care, of the Pediatric Reanimation and Emergency Care French Group, and to European physicians known to be involved in antimicrobial stewardship programs. Responses from 60 PICUs across 12 countries were analyzed. Fifty three (88%) stated that ASP was implemented. The main interventions considered as ASP were the pharmacokinetic monitoring of antimicrobials (n = 41, 77%) and the development of facility-specific clinical practice guidelines (n = 40, 75%). The most common team composition of antimicrobial stewardship program included a pediatric infectious disease physician, a pharmacist, and a microbiologist (n = 11, 21%).

Conclusion: Although ASP practices were reported to be widely implemented across European PICUs, this survey observed a large heterogeneity in terms of activities and modalities of intervention.

What is Known:

• Antibiotic therapy represents one of the most common interventions in pediatric intensive care units.

• The role and subsequent success of antimicrobial stewardship programs has largely been reported in the adult population but scarcely in the pediatric population.

What is New:

• Antimicrobial stewardship programs were reported to be widely implemented across European pediatric intensive care units.

• We observed a large heterogeneity in terms of activities and modalities of intervention.

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Fig. 1

Data availability

Data available on request.

Abbreviations

ASP:

Antimicrobial stewardship programs

PICU:

Pediatric intensive care units

ESPNIC:

European Society of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Grenoble-Alpes University Hospital, La Tronche, France

    Maité Clos, Julie Arata-Bardet & Guillaume Mortamet

  2. Child Health Research Centre and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit, The University of Queensland and Queensland Children’s Hospital, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Luregn J. Schlapbach

  3. Department of Intensive Care and Neonatology, Children’s Research Center, University Children’s Hospital Zürich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Luregn J. Schlapbach

  4. Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, Hôpital Femme Mère Enfant, Hospices Civils de LyonBron, France

    Etienne Javouhey

  5. Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France

    Etienne Javouhey & Guillaume Mortamet

  6. Univ. Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Guillaume Mortamet

Authors
  1. Maité Clos
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  2. Luregn J. Schlapbach
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  3. Julie Arata-Bardet
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  4. Etienne Javouhey
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  5. Guillaume Mortamet
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Consortia

on behalf of the European Society of Neonatal and Pediatric Intensive Care (ESPNIC) Section on Infection, Inflammation, and Sepsis

Contributions

MC wrote the manuscript, which was reviewed, edited, and approved by LS, JAB, EJ, and GM.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Guillaume Mortamet.

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This study did not require any ethics approval.

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NA.

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NA.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Communicated by Piet Leroy.

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Clos, M., Schlapbach, L.J., Arata-Bardet, J. et al. Antimicrobial stewardship programs in European pediatric intensive care units: an international survey of practices. Eur J Pediatr 181, 2873–2877 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04481-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00431-022-04481-0

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