[Shortened duration of antibiotic therapy in bacterial infections].

The adequate duration of antibiotic therapy in the treatment of bacterial infections is often unclear. For many indications guidelines recommend intervals with ranges of several days instead of fixed courses of treatment, and physicians tend to choose longer rather than shorter durations. The emergence of infections due to multidrug-resistant bacteria and the valuation of avoidable side effects from antibiotic agents raised the question whether a shortened duration of therapy is appropriate in specific indications. Therefore clinical trials to investigate the effectiveness of shorter in comparison to prolonged antibiotic treatment have yet been of growing interest to current research. Recent studies have shown that, concerning clinical endpoints, shorter duration of antibiotic therapy is not inferior to longer treatment in the management of pyelonephritis, intraabdominal infections, community acquired pneumonia an also gramnegative bloodstream infections and febrile neutropenia.