The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists (SIDP), and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) just released a focused update to their 2023 consensus recommendations regarding the use of prolonged-infusion beta-lactam antibiotics in adult patients who are severely ill.
Three recommendations included within Use of Prolonged-Infusion Beta-Lactam Antibiotics Among Severely Ill Adult Patients received updates in the 2026 focused update. We’ve outlined those recommendations below. View the full-text version for a complete look at the guidance in its entirety.
Recommendations Updated in the Focused Update:
Recommendation 7a: We suggest PI β-lactam antibiotics over SI to reduce mortality among severely ill adult patients, particularly those with Gram-negative infections. (Conditional recommendation; moderate certainty of evidence).
Recommendation 7b: We suggest PI β-lactam antibiotics over SI to increase clinical cure among severely ill adult patients, particularly those with Gram-negative infections. (Conditional recommendation; low certainty of evidence).
Recommendation 10: When initiating CI β-lactams in severely ill patients, we suggest administering a loading dose to improve clinical success; for EI, evidence is insufficient to recommend for or against a loading dose. (Conditional recommendation; very low certainty of evidence).
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