title: Antibiotic prescription for patients referred to a specialist breast clinic.
abstract: Hospital referral is indicated as an emergency for breast infections not settling with oral antibiotics. Referrals to a breast clinic over a period of 6 months were assessed for prior antibiotic prescription. A total of 1078 patients were seen during this period. 91 (8%) patients had been prescribed antibiotics, 71% of which had been prescribed for non-infective conditions. Of those patients treated for infection, 42% had the wrong antibiotic prescribed. The final diagnoses for patients inappropriately prescribed antibiotics were chest wall pain in 23% and duct ectasia in 14%. Although the reasons for prescription of antibiotics are mutifactorial, careful examination of the patient will diagnose chest wall pain. Delayed prescribing may be appropriate for some patients.
authors.affiliation: Rapid Access Breast Clinic, Royal Gwent Hospital, Cardiff Road, Newport, South Wales, UK. chris_twine@hotmail.com
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Twine
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Gateley
mesh_terms: D000553:Ambulatory Care; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001941:Breast Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000175:diagnosis; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012017:Referral and Consultation
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents