Date: October 20th, 2021

Reference: Talan et al. Pathway with single-dose long-acting intravenous antibiotic reduces emergency department hospitalizations of patients with skin infections. AEM October 2021

Guest Skeptic: Dr. Lauren Westafer an Assistant Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School – Baystate. She is the cofounder of FOAMcast and a pulmonary embolism and implementation science researcher. Dr. Westafer serves as the Social Media Editor and research methodology editor for Annals of Emergency Medicine. Lauren also recently won the SAEM FOAMed Excellence in Education Award.

Case: A 46-year-old male with a history of diabetes controlled on metformin presents with erythema and warmth to his right lower leg measuring 27 cm by 10 cm for the past four days. The patient is neurovascularly intact and there is no evidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) on ultrasound. He has no fever, and his white blood cell count is 12,500.

Background: Emergency department visits for skin and soft tissue infections (SSTI) are common and increasing [1]. These types of infections include cellulitis and abscesses. The SGEM has a couple of episodes on the treatment of cellulitis with antibiotics (SGEM#131 and SGEM#209).

The treatment of abscesses has been covered a few more times on the SGEM (SGEM#13, SGEM#156, SGEM#164 and SGEM#311). The latest episode looked at the loop technique to drain uncomplicated abscesses. The result was no statistical difference in failure rates between the loop and standard packing. Our conclusion was to consider using the loop technique on your next uncomplicated abscess.

Most patients can be managed as outpatients. However, the average length of stay for inpatient care is one week and costs close to $5 billion dollars a year in the USA [2]. The mortality rate for hospitalized patients with SSTI is <0.05% [3, 4].

The only reason for in-patient management in 40% of patients was to provide parenteral antibiotics [5]. This has led to greater interest in long-acting parenteral antibiotics as a possible alternative to admission. 

Clinical Question: Does the use of a clinical pathway, including a dose of intravenous dalbavancin, in emergency department patients with skin and soft tissue infections reduce hospitalizations?

Reference: Talan et al. Pathway with single-dose long-acting intravenous antibiotic reduces emergency department hospitalizations of patients with skin infections. AEM October 2021

* Population: Patients ≥18 years old with abscess, cellulitis, or wound infection believed or confirmed to be due to gram-positive bacteria and an area of infection of at least 75 cm2.

* Excluded: Unstable comorbidity (e.g. severe sepsis), immunosuppression, injection drug use and fever, pregnancy, breastfeeding, bilateral lower extremity involvement, severe neurologic disorder, allergy to glycopeptide antibiotics, suspected gram negative infection or infection likely to need more...