At a Glance
Antibiotic Review Documentation
Record the suspected infection, cultures, empirical indication, renal function, route and planned review date. At reassessment, document whether therapy is stopped, narrowed, continued or changed to oral treatment, with a reason. Do not delay treatment in sepsis while waiting for routine stewardship review.
Antimicrobial stewardship aims to optimise antibiotic use, reduce preventable harm and slow antimicrobial resistance. Empirical antibiotics should be reviewed as new clinical and microbiological information becomes available.
At a Glance
Antibiotic Review Documentation
Record the suspected infection, cultures, empirical indication, renal function, route and planned review date. At reassessment, document whether therapy is stopped, narrowed, continued or changed to oral treatment, with a reason. Do not delay treatment in sepsis while waiting for routine stewardship review.
A structured review around 48–72 hours can consider diagnosis, culture results, clinical response, source control, spectrum, route, dose, renal function and treatment duration. The timing is a practical stewardship checkpoint, not a rule to stop every antibiotic at 72 hours.
Checklist
Document indication and review date, collect appropriate cultures without delaying urgent treatment, review susceptibility reports, narrow or discontinue antibiotics where appropriate, switch IV to oral when safe, and specify a planned duration. Critically ill patients require individualised reassessment.
Reference
WHO Antimicrobial Stewardship.
MedBodh professional educational material. Apply current national and local protocols.