Is there a mortality effect of emipiric colistin in the treatment of acinetobacter baumanni?

INTRODUCTION: To investigate the effect of empirical or culture based colistin therapy on the mortality of intensive care medicine (ICU) patients with severe sepsis and septic shock
METHODS: Patients with severe sepsis and septic shock treated in three Intensive Care Units of medical faculty of Erciyes University were included in this retrospective, descriptive study. Sixty-nine patients were included in this study. The empirical group (Group 1) consisted of 33 (47%) patients; Group 2 consisted of 36 (53%) patients.
RESULTS: Results: The baseline Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) scores were significantly higher in the empirical group (p = 0.01). However, the groups did not differ regarding the pre-treatment Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) scores (p=0.92). The groups did not differ regarding the mean duration of intensive care stay (15 days vs. 20 days, p = 0.20) or in terms of the intensive care mortality (58.3% vs. 72.7%, p = 0.31). There was also no difference between the groups in 30-day in hospital mortality (61.1% vs. 78.8%, p = 0.12).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: In patients with severe sepsis/septic shock, there were no differences between the groups in which the colistin therapy was initiated empirically or based on sensitivity test results.