Vancomycin abusers advised
Rob Stanton, PharmD, clinical pharmacist at Cabell Huntington (WV) Hospital, says that facility’s infection control department is joining forces with the pharmacy in attempting to change physicians’ habits. (See Cabell’s organism susceptibility chart, below.)"We used to have a number of neurosurgeons who had standing orders for prophylactic vancomycin for patients who say they’re allergic to penicillin. Often people will say they have an allergy to penicillin, but that may mean they have an adverse reaction like diarrhea — not a true allergic reaction," Stanton says.
Cabell’s team encourages surgeons to use alternatives to vancomycin, such as clindimycin or IV bactrin, as second-line drugs for surgical prophylaxis. Clindimycin and IV bactrin cost about the same — $6 a day. Vancomycin costs about $13 a day. Oxacillin (Bactocill) is another second-line drug and can be used as an alternative to methicillin, vancomycin, and nafcillin.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content