RT Book, Section
A1 Bolon, Maureen
A1 Weber, Stephen G.
A2 Halter, Jeffrey B.
A2 Ouslander, Joseph G.
A2 Tinetti, Mary E.
A2 Studenski, Stephanie
A2 High, Kevin P.
A2 Asthana, Sanjay
SR Print(0)
ID 5136958
T1 Chapter 125. General Principles of Antimicrobial Selection
T2 Hazzard's Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, 6e
YR 2009
FD 2009
PB The McGraw-Hill Companies
PP New York, NY
SN 978-0-07-148872-3
LK accessmedicine.mhmedical.com/content.aspx?aid=5136958
RD 2022/05/25
AB When  treating  infection  in  older  patients,  selection  of  an  antimicrobial  regimen  often  precedes  the  identification  of  the  causative  pathogen  and  may  sometimes  be  necessary  even  before  the  specific  site  of  infection  has  been  established.  In  these  cases,  the  choice  of  therapy  is  typically  based  on  the  clinician's  estimation  of  the  most  likely  causative  organism  as  well  as  properties  of  the  available  antimicrobial  agents.  This  method  of  antimicrobial  selection  is  described  as  “empiric,”  as  opposed  to  “pathogen-directed,”  in  which  the  causative  organism  has  already  been  determined  by  the  results  of  clinical  cultures  and  antimicrobial  susceptibility  testing.  This  chapter  addresses  the  unique  challenges  of  selecting  optimal  empiric  antimicrobial  therapy  for  older  patients  with  known  or  suspected  infection.