Antibiotics in end-of-life care
03/29/24 at 03:00 AM
Antibiotics in end-of-life care
NEJM Journal Watch, by Abigail Zuger, MD; 3/27/24
Antibiotics often are considered to be among the gentler and more comfort-oriented interventions in end-of-life care, certainly far less aggressive than intubation or last-ditch surgery. ... Still, antibiotics do entail their own costs in the form of toxicities and need for intravenous access, and liberal antibiotic use reliably worsens institutional and community drug-resistance profiles. ... A new review was written for infectious disease consultants but contains specific suggestions that should interest both generalists and other subspecialists caring for dying patients.