Main applications of point-of-care ultrasound in palliative care.

Combined with a physical examination, clinical ultrasound offers a valuable complement that can help guide clinical decision-making. In various medical and surgical specialties, it is increasingly used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Due to recent technological advances, smaller and more affordable ultrasound machines are now being developed for use in home hospice care.

Successful Integration of Clinical Pharmacists in an OPAT Program: A Real-Life Multidisciplinary Circuit.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programs encompass a range of healthcare processes aiming to treat infections at home, with the preferential use of the intravenous route. Although several barriers arise during the implementation of OPAT circuits, recent cumulative data have supported the effectiveness of these programs, demonstrating their application in a safe and cost-effective manner. Given that OPAT is evolving towards treating patients with higher complexity, a multidisciplinary team including physicians, pharmacists, and nursing staff should lead the program.

Executive summary of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy: Guidelines of the Spanish Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases and the Spanish Domiciliary Hospitalisation Society.

Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) programmes make it possible to start or complete intravenous antimicrobial therapy for practically any type of infection at home, provided that patient selection is appropriate for the type of OPAT programme available. Although the clinical management of infections in the home setting is comparable in many respects to that offered in conventional hospitalization (selection of antibiotics, duration of treatment, etc.), there are many aspects that are specific to this care modality.

Effectiveness and safety of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Aim: We analysed the effectiveness and safety of outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) in acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) in patients admitted to home hospitalisation units (HHU).

Methods: Retrospective multicentre study of patients with AECOPD included in the Spanish OPAT Registry during 2 years period.

Results: Twenty-seven hospitals included 562 episodes in 361 patients diagnosed COPD GOLD III-IV.

Intravenous antimicrobial therapy in the hospital-at-home setting: data from the Spanish Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Therapy Registry.

Aim: To evaluate outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) in the hospital-at-home (HaH) model, using data from a Spanish registry.

Patients & Methods: We describe episodes/characteristics of patients receiving OPAT.

Results: Four thousand and five patients were included (mean age 66.