- Antimicrobials should be used after a treatable surgical infection has been recognized or if there is a high degree of suspicion of an infection.
- The source of infection should be always investigated and controlled as soon as possible.
- Empiric antimicrobial therapy should be started in patients with surgical infection because microbiological data (culture and susceptibility results) can require up to 48-72 hours before they are available for a targeted therapy.
- Knowledge of local rates of resistance should be always an essential component in choice of the empiric antimicrobial regimen.
- For patients with community-acquired infections, empiric agents with a narrower spectrum of activity should be administered.
- For patients with hospital-acquired infections, antimicrobial regimens with broader spectra of activity should be administered.
- Targeted antimicrobial therapy regimens should be adapted when antimicrobial susceptibility test results are available.
- The antimicrobial therapy should be shortened in patients having no signs of on-going infection.
- Patients having signs of sepsis beyond 5 to 7 days of antibiotic treatment should undergo aggressive diagnostic investigation to determine an ongoing infection.
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