Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) is used to administer non-oral antibiotics (usually intravenously) without the need for ongoing hospitalisation.
OPAT is particularly useful for people who are not severely ill but do require a prolonged course of treatment that cannot be given in oral form.
[1] OPAT is being increasingly adopted as part of antimicrobial stewardship programs; it can reduce length of stay, costs and adverse events while improving quality of life.
[2] OPAT can be administered in an outpatient facility (including a provider's office, infusion center or day hospital) or at a patient's residence using an infusion pump, such as an elastomeric pump.
[3][4] Common antimicrobials used for continuous infusion are shown below:[5] Before starting beta-lactams and vancomycin infusion, it is advisable to administer a loading dose in order to reduce time to reach target concentrations[6][7]