Impact of restricting fluoroquinolone prescription on bacterial resistance in an intensive care unit

The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of reducing prescription of fluoroquinolones in an intensive care unit (ICU) upon bacterial resistance, particularly as regards Pseudomonas aeruginosa. For six months between January 2001 and June 2001, administration of fluoroquinolones was kept to a minimum. A bacteriological screening of patients was performed to assess the incidence of fluoroquinolone-resistant bacteria. There was a 75.8% restriction in prescriptions of fluoroquinolones. There was no significant change in bacterial ecology between the periods preceding (12 months) and following (12 months) restriction. There was a significant recovery of sensitivity of P. aeruginosa to ciprofloxacin (P≤0.01), with a decrease in resistant strains from 71.3% in the pre-restriction period to 52.4% in the post-restriction period. Regarding clinical data, no significant differences were noted between the pre-restriction and the post-restriction periods, except for the number of cases of ventilator-associated pneumonia with P. aeruginosa resistant to ciprofloxacin. This study demonstrated the possibility of introducing rotation of antibiotics in an ICU.