Ambulatory use of parenteral antibacterials - Contemporary perspectives

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) offers increased patient comfort and convenience in appropriately selected patients who require par enteral antibacterial therapy, as well as opportunity for cost savings. Hom e-based programmes, with drugs being administered by the patient or the car egiver, have become the norm in the USA. Choice of drugs for OPAT is based on antimicrobial spectrum, dosage regimen, drug stability, toxicity profile , and cost. Over the past decade, availability of sophisticated programmabl e pumps has allowed a wider range of antimicrobial agents to be used in the ambulatory setting. The most popular antibacterial agents in OPAT programm es in the USA are vancomycin and beta-lactams.