Outcomes from global adult outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy programmes: a review of the last decade

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) has become a global treatment modality since its advent in 1974. The multicentre outcome registries that were employed at the turn of the century to demonstrate the benefits and challenges in this treatment setting have been discontinued. In the intervening years, trends in clinical, patient satisfaction, programmatic and economic outcomes have been shown in sporadic cohort analyses from around the globe. These outcomes are generally reassuring and compare well with previous registry data. However, meaningful comparison of a range of key outcomes is hampered by a lack of uniformity to outcome reporting. In addition to 'whole programme' outcome reports, several studies have detailed real-world outcomes in OPAT pertaining to specific conditions and populations. This work has shown how prospective data collection in the OPAT setting can yield valuable insights into the effectiveness and safety of the management of many conditions, such as osteoarticular infection and endocarditis, in a diverse range of populations and increasingly from different countries. Enhanced and perhaps more uniform outcome surveillance in this fashion now constitutes good practice and will enable the benefits and risks of this treatment modality to be shared both in novel and established OPAT arenas.