title: Continuous versus intermittent administration of piperacillin-tazobactam in intensive care unit patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common Intensive Care Unit (ICU)-acquired infection. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical outcome of continuous and intermittent administration of piperacillin-tazobactam by serial measurements of the Clinical Pulmonary Infection Score (CPIS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Groups were designed as parallel and the study was designed as quasi-experimental and conducted at a semi-closed ICU between September 2008 and May 2010. Patients received 3.375 g (piperacillin 3 g/tazobactam 0.375 g) either through intermittent infusion every 6 h for 30 min [Intermittent Infusion (II) group; n = 30] or through continuous infusion every 8 h for 4 h [Continuous Infusion (CI) group; n = 31]. CPIS was used to assess the clinical diagnosis and outcome of VAP patients.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sex, age, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II II score on ICU admission, diagnosis and underlying disease of VAP patients were not significantly different in the CI (n = 31) and II (n = 30) groups. Duration of mechanical ventilation, length of stay, total number of antibiotics used per patient and duration of piperacillin/tazobactam treatment were similar in both groups. Mortality rates of VAP patients were similar between both groups during hospitalization.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was no significant difference in clinical outcomes of patients receiving piperacillin-tazobactam via CI or II when measured by serial CPIS score.
authors.affiliation: Chronic Respiratory Disease Research Center, National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, Masih Daneshvari Hospital, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fanak
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fahimi
authors.forename: Somayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ghafari
authors.forename: Hamidreza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jamaati
authors.forename: Shadi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Baniasadi
authors.forename: Payam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tabarsi
authors.forename: Arvin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: Arnavaz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Akhzarmehr
authors.forename: Seyed Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hashemian