Patient Characteristics and Medication Administration
Seventy-six patients were included in the study with a median age of 9.5
years (IQR 3.6, 13.1; range 3 months - 17.9 years) (Table 1). Most
patients were in the step-down ICU at time of enteral fluoroquinolone
initiation (n=54, 71%). The median hospital length of stay was 5 days
(IQR 3, 10). The most common admitting diagnoses were respiratory
distress or failure (n=38, 50%) and lower respiratory tract infection
(n=14, 18%). All patients had respiratory comorbidities and almost all
patients (n=75, 99%) had tracheostomies in place prior to admission.
Ciprofloxacin was used more frequently (n=72, 95%) than levofloxacin
(n=4, 5%) for treatment of VAT (Table 2). Median treatment duration was
8 days (IQR 7, 10). Twenty patients (26%) received additional
antibiotics simultaneously, with sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim
accounting for over half of these (n=12, 52%). Diagnostic information
is provided in Table 3.