Guidelines vs Actual Management of Skin and Soft Tissue Infections in the Emergency Department.

Background: Infections of skin and soft tissue (SSTI) commonly cause visits to hospital emergency departments (EDs). The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) has published guidelines for the management of SSTI, but it is unclear how closely these guidelines are followed in practice.

Methods: We reviewed records of patients seen in the ED at a large tertiary care hospital to determine guidelines adherence in 4 important areas: the decision to hospitalize, choice of antibiotics, incision and drainage (I&D) of abscesses, and submission of specimens for culture.

Can an etiologic agent be identified in adults who are hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia: results of a one-year study.

Introduction: Determining the cause of community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) remains problematic. In this observational study, we systematically applied currently approved diagnostic techniques in patients hospitalized for CAP in order to determine the proportion in which an etiological agent could be identified.

Methods: All patients admitted with findings consistent with CAP were included.