• Alex Dolan, Elizabeth Kuge, Elisha Bremmer, Tyson Dietrich, Anthony Santarelli, and John Ashurst.
• Pacific Northwest University of Health Science College of Osteopathic Medicine, 200 University Pkwy, Yakima, WA 98901, United States of America. Electronic address: adolan@pnwu.edu.
• Am J Emerg Med. 2022 Apr 1; 54: 253-256.

IntroductionAcute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSI) are frequently encountered in the emergency department and compromise more than 700,000 hospital admissions annually. Dalbavancin is a single dose long acting semi-synthetic lipogylcopepitde antibiotic with coverage against gram-positive organisms including methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Recent data from large tertiary care centers have shown a decrease in hospital admissions and repeat emergency department visits for ABSSI's but little data is available for those who practice in a rural community setting. The primary objective of this study was to describe the use of dalbavancin at a single rural emergency department.MethodsA retrospective cohort study of all adult patients who received dalbavancin between 2019 and 2021 while in the emergency department was completed. Abstracted data included patient demographics, infection location by body region, emergency department return visits, hospital admissions, and length of stay. Analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney test for continuous data, and the chi-squared analysis for nominal data.ResultsA total of 125 patients were included in the final analysis with 35.2% being female. The median age of those treated with dalbavancin was 54 years (42.0-64.0) and the most common infection site was the lower extremities. A total of 35 patients re-presented to the emergency department following treatment with dalbavancin within 30 days and 16 were admitted to the hospital. Of those who re-presented to the emergency department, the median age was 56 (40.0-66.0) and the median re-presentation was 9 days (3-17) after dalbavancin administration. A total of 16 patients (12.8%) were subsequently admitted to the hospital with a median length of stay of 5.5 days (3.0-8.0). 30-day readmission rates were 23.9% in those who had an abnormal WBC count at initial presentation, 26.1% for those with congestive heart failure, 20.3% for those with hypertension, and 26.0% in those who had diabetes mellitus.ConclusionFollowing the administration of dalbavancin for ABSSI at a rural emergency department, few patients are subsequently admitted within the following 30 days. To further decrease this number and alleviate the burden on emergency departments and hospitals, local treatment algorithms should be developed to minimize the risk of representation and hospitalization following administration.Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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