Prophylactic Antibiotic Administration in Vascular Interventional Radiology

Vascular interventional radiology (VIR) laboratories perform a myriad of procedures. Although antibiotic prophylaxis is not beneficial in all procedures performed in the VIR laboratory, in cases where antibiotic prophylaxis is recommended, evidence-based processes should be implemented to ensure guidelines established by the Society of Interventional Radiology are followed. This project evaluated if the addition of an evidence-based algorithm to the current prophylactic antibiotic process would improve compliance with administration within 1 hr of the procedure start time. Algorithms were developed and used for five common procedures in the VIR laboratory to ensure that prophylactic antibiotics were administered according to guidelines. Use of the algorithms was initiated in December 2016. The prophylactic antibiotic compliance rate using the algorithms for 3 months was compared with customary practice prophylactic antibiotic compliance rates for the same period 1 year earlier. The customary practice compliance rates averaged between 39% and 55% during the preintervention 3 months studied. After implementation of the algorithms, prophylactic antibiotic compliance rates ranged from 92% to 97%, thus indicating that the use of algorithms to help support usage of prophylactic antibiotics can positively impact quality improvement.