VIDEO: Penicillin skin testing improves inpatient antibiotic stewardship

HOUSTON– Dr. Megan S. Motosue of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., discusses the value of penicillin skin testing as a potent tool for improving inpatient antibiotic stewardship. By routinely performing penicillin skin testing using standard methods in a consecutive series of inpatients with a self-reported history of penicillin allergy, roughly 80% were found to not in fact be allergic. And this information changed their physicians’ behavior: prior to testing, vancomycin was the most commonly used antibiotic in the inpatients, but its use was reduced by more than half based upon the skin test results, with a commensurate increase in prescriptions for semi-synthetic penicillins.

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