Empiric Antimicrobial Therapy in Critical Illness Results of a Surgical Infection Society Survey

BACKGROUND: Antibiotics are prescribed commonly in the intensive care unit (ICU). Often, therapy is initiated empirically; practice patterns are not well characterized. We documented approaches to empiric antibiotic therapy among members of the Surgical Infection Society (SIS). METHODS: We sent a scenario-based questionnaire to all SIS members. The hypothetical cases addressed empiric broad-spectrum therapy for a patient with pyrexia and …