Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy for Infective Endocarditis—Model of Care

Abstract

Infective endocarditis (IE) is a serious infectious disease with significant mortality and morbidity placing a burden on healthcare systems. Outpatient antimicrobial therapy in selected patients has been shown to be safe and beneficial to both patients and the healthcare system. In this article, we review the literature on the model of care for outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy in infective endocarditis and propose that systems of care be developed based on local resources and all patients admitted with infective endocarditis be screened appropriately for outpatient antimicrobial therapy.

Keywords

• infective endocarditis
• OPAT
• multidisciplinary team