Early Antimicrobial De-escalation and Stewardship in Adult Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation Recipients: Retrospective Review

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial stewardship in allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT) recipients remains underutilized in North America. European guidelines advise de-escalation of broad-spectrum therapy after 72 hours in select patients with neutropenic fever of unknown origin. This is not commonplace in the United States, as current guidelines recommend broad-spectrum therapy until neutrophil engraftment. If de-escalating after at least 5 days of broad-spectrum therapy and defervescence in neutropenic allo-HSCT recipients does not predispose them to recurrent fever or infection, the practice could afford several benefits. METHODS: The primary end point was rate of recurrent fever. Secondary outcomes included Clostridium difficile–associated infections, length of stay, intensive care unit (ICU) admission incidence, in-hospital mortality rate, need for re-escalation of therapy, rate of positive blood cultures for patients who had recurrent fevers, overall antimicrobial utilization from neutropenic fever onset, and pharmacoeconomic impact. RESULTS: A total of 120 patients were assessed in 2 groups as cohort 1 (n = 46), which received early de-escalation, and cohort 2 (n = 74), which did not. The primary end point met criteria for noninferiority, as 7 patients (15%) in cohort 1 had recurrent fever within the specified time frame compared with 14 (19%) in cohort 2 (90% CI, –0.0878 to 0.1629, P = .026). Patients in cohort 1 received significantly less gram-positive broad-spectrum antimicrobials, with trends toward lower use of broad-spectrum gram-negative agents and lower associated costs and no differences in length of stay, ICU admission incidence, need for re-escalation of therapy, rate of culture-positive bacteremia after de-escalation or discontinuation of broad-spectrum therapy, or in-hospital mortality rate. CONCLUSIONS: De-escalating after at least 5 days of broad-spectrum therapy and defervescence did not appear to affect the rate of recurrent fever. This allowed for significant reductions in gram-positive broad-spectrum antimicrobial utilization, with trends toward lower use of broad-spectrum gram-negative agents and associated costs and no difference in clinical outcomes compared with those continuing such therapy until neutrophil engraftment.