{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T21:49:36Z","timestamp":1778708976127,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":32,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,1]],"date-time":"2023-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1675209600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Third-generation cephalosporins are widely used due to the convenient spectrum of activity, safety, and posology. However, they are associated with the emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms, which makes them important targets for antimicrobial stewardship interventions. We aimed to assess the appropriateness of empirical prescriptions of ceftriaxone in a tertiary hospital. This cross-sectional study analysed empirical ceftriaxone prescriptions in January and June 2021. Patients under other antimicrobials 48 h before admission were excluded. The quality of ceftriaxone prescription was assessed regarding the initial appropriateness, duration of inappropriate ceftriaxone therapy, and missed opportunities for de-escalation. Of 465 prescriptions, 46.5% were inappropriate. The ceftriaxone prescription was inappropriate in 95.7% of lower respiratory tract infections (LRTI) globally and in nearly 40% of urinary tract infections (UTI) in medical and intensive care departments. Intensive care, internal medicine, and palliative care departments showed the highest number of inappropriate ceftriaxone prescriptions and longer length of inappropriate ceftriaxone prescriptions compared to the hospital\u2019s average. Improvement of empirical ceftriaxone prescription in LRTI and urinary infections, adherence to local guidelines and de-escalation practices, and targeted interventions focusing on critical departments may significantly reduce the inappropriate empirical use of ceftriaxone.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics12020288","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,1]],"date-time":"2023-02-01T02:52:02Z","timestamp":1675219922000},"page":"288","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":9,"title":["Appropriateness of Empirical Prescriptions of Ceftriaxone and Identification of Opportunities for Stewardship Interventions: A Single-Centre Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2031-2357","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Gorgulho","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Internal Medicine Department, Hospital de Cascais, Av. Brigadeiro Victor Novais Gon\u00e7alves, 2755-009 Cascais, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3202-1688","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fl\u00e1via","family":"Cunha","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Elsa","family":"Alves Branco","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Hospital de Braga, 4710-243 Braga, Portugal"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7368-9609","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ana","family":"Azevedo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Epidemiology Centre, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Public Health and Forensic Sciences, Medical Education, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"EPIUnit, Instituto de Sa\u00fade P\u00fablica da Universidade do Porto, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio para a Investiga\u00e7\u00e3o Integrativa e Translacional em Sa\u00fade Populacional (ITR), Universidade do Porto, 4050-600 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Francisco","family":"Almeida","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Control and Prevention Unit, Hospital Epidemiology Centre, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Raquel","family":"Duro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Centro Hospitalar de T\u00e2mega e Sousa, 4564-007 Penafiel, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Paulo","family":"Andrade","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infectious Diseases Department, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Control and Prevention Unit, Hospital Epidemiology Centre, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Nuno","family":"Rocha Pereira","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Control and Prevention Unit, Hospital Epidemiology Centre, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"},{"name":"Department of Medicine, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]},{"given":"Carlos","family":"Lima Alves","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Infection and Antimicrobial Resistance Control and Prevention Unit, Hospital Epidemiology Centre, Centro Hospitalar Universit\u00e1rio de S\u00e3o Jo\u00e3o, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) (2022, November 27). 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