Bacteremia - Central Line Associated
Empiric Treatment

Empiric Treatment

Note

Choice of empiric treatment is based on severity of illness, likely organism(s), and risk factors for infection

Antibiotics can be withheld in hemodynamically stable patients & no other source of infection pending blood culture results, except for:

  • Immunocompromised patients
  • Critically ill patients
  • Prosthetic valve(s) or other hardware in place
  • Purulence at the catheter site
  • Severe sepsis
  • Neutropenia
  • Hospitalization for >72 hours

In patients with an alternative infectious diagnosis (e.g., pneumonia) who have a central line consider adding vancomycin pending cultures

Empiric Treatment

  • Order set link found in vancomycin monograph
  • Notify pharmacist for levels and further dosing

When Covering Gram Negatives

See Risk Factors for Gram Negatives above