1511. Effect of Discharge Antibiotic Route on Clinical Outcomes in Children with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Osteomyelitis with Bacteremia

BACKGROUND: Children with osteomyelitis transitioned to oral step-down therapy experience similar outcomes to those treated with outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT). Compared with OPAT, oral therapy has lower costs and avoids catheter complications. However, few studies have specifically compared patient outcomes between those receiving oral therapy vs. OPAT for osteomyelitis with associated bacteremia caused by MRSA. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study comparing early oral therapy (EOT), defined as transition to oral therapy at or prior to discharge vs. use of OPAT at discharge. We identified hospitalized children <19 years of age with MRSA osteomyelitis with bacteremia between 2007 and 2014 from three children’s hospitals. The primary outcome was treatment failure within 6 months of discharge, defined as unplanned change in antibiotic after discharge, development of chronic osteomyelitis, need for an operative procedure after discharge, or recrudescence of bacteremia. The secondary outcome was treatment-related events, defined as documented adverse drug events in the medical record and/or central venous catheter complications. Between-group comparisons were made using Fisher exact test for binomial distributions and the Wilcoxon rank-sum test for continuous variables. RESULTS: We included 61 patients with MRSA osteomyelitis with bacteremia. Twenty-five patients (41%) received EOT and 36 (59%) received OPAT. Duration of bacteremia and hospital length of stay was similar between groups (Table 1). Clindamycin was the most commonly used antibiotic in both the EOT (24/25; 96%) and OPAT (22/36; 61%) groups. Clinical failure occurred in 1/25 (4%) children receiving EOT and in 5/36 (14%) in the OPAT group (95% CI of difference: −29 to 6%; P = 0.38, Table 1). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 1/25 (4%) children receiving EOT compared with 9/36 (25%) receiving OPAT (95% CI of difference: −49 to –7%; P = 0.04, Table 1). CONCLUSION: Children receiving EOT for MRSA osteomyelitis with bacteremia did not experience higher rates of clinical failure and had fewer treatment-related complications compared with OPAT. Oral step-down therapy can be considered for children with MRSA osteomyelitis with bacteremia. [Image: see text] DISCLOSURES: All authors: No reported disclosures.