Combination antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients.
Combination antibiotic therapy may be used for a number of reasons in critically ill patients. The potential benefits of combination therapy include prevention of resistance, treatment of polymicrobial infections, to decrease toxicity, or for synergy. Selected literature is reviewed which examines the use of combination therapy in critically ill patients. Research reports have not uniformly demonstrated the benefits of combination therapy. The situations where combination therapy has been beneficial are discussed.
Jacobi
J
J
Methodist Hospital of Indiana, Indianapolis 46206, USA.
D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D016638:Critical Illness / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D006801:Humans; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology