Decreasing Unnecessary Antibiotic Usage in Patients Admitted With Bronchiolitis

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Bronchiolitis is a viral syndrome that occurs in children aged <2 years and is a common reason for admission to children’s hospitals. The American Academy of Pediatrics bronchiolitis guideline discourages routine antibiotic therapy for bronchiolitis. Despite this, there is high use of antibiotics in this patient population. METHODS We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients aged ≤2 years admitted to our tertiary care center with bronchiolitis during 2 subsequent respiratory seasons. Between the 2 seasons, we provided an intervention to our hospital medicine group, which included a didactic review of American Academy of Pediatrics bronchiolitis guideline followed by subsequent, ongoing reinforcement from antibiotic stewardship weekday rounds. RESULTS We were able to achieve a 40% decrease in overall antibiotic use between the 2 study periods (25% vs 15%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Provider education, along with focused antibiotic stewardship audits with real-time feedback, resulted in decreased use of antibiotics in patients admitted with bronchiolitis.