Use of antimicrobials in patients in Palliative Care admitted to the Intensive Care Unit: A retrospective study

Introduction: Palliative care (PC) improves the quality of life of patients and their families. The use of antimicrobials is controversial in PC patients, especially in those admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Objective: To evaluate the use of antimicrobials in PC patients admitted to the ICU. Methods: This is a retrospective study, performed from August 2019 to September 2020. Data on demographic profile, hospitalization, PC, and use of antimicrobials were collected from the Erasto Gaertner Hospital database, in Curitiba, Brazil. Results: 182 patients were studied, median age of 65 years and 52% men. The median length of stay in the ICU was 3 days; the median total length of stay in the hospital was 6 days and 89.5% of the patients died. The time in ICU of patients treated with antibiotics (14.8%) was significantly longer (p=0.033) than for patients who were not (85.2%). Using or not using antibiotics did not change the outcome. Among those who took antibiotics, death occurred in 81.5% of cases and among those who did not use, 74.8% died (p=0.627). Between the cases that used broad-spectrum antibiotics 17/19 (89.5%) died and the mean hospital stay was 16.2 days. Among cases that used narrow-spectrum 5/9 (62.5%) died and the mean hospital stay was 6.4 days (p=0.033). Conclusion: The administration and/or the spectrum of antibiotics in PC patients admitted to the ICU did not change the mortality rate. The administration of antibiotics increased the length of stay in the ICU.