Treatment of skin and soft-tissue infections utilizing an outpatient parenteral drug delivery device: a multicenter trial. HIAT Study Group.

The purpose of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy for skin and soft-tissue infections and determine its effect on length of hospital stay. In this open-label, multicenter, prospective study, 130 adult patients with skin and soft-tissue infections requiring parenteral antibiotic therapy were enrolled as a subgroup. Initial therapy was delivered to hospital inpatients or in outpatient treatment centers, followed by home infusion therapy. Cefotaxime was delivered intravenously using a programmable ambulatory infusion pump. The clinical response rate was 97.5% (n = 118), while the bacteriologic response rate was 94.0% (n = 83). Only 32.2% of patients required hospitalization, and the mean duration of inpatient care for all evaluable patients was only 1.5 days. The mean duration of hospitalization for patients receiving inpatient care was 4.7 days. In conclusion, home intravenous cefotaxime therapy is safe, effective, and may reduce healthcare costs for many patients with skin and soft-tissue infections.