Clinical Trial Summary
Many infectious diseases require a therapy that is administered intravenously due to a lack
of oral treatments. Affected patients often have to stay weeks or even months in hospital
just for receiving their therapy although they do not feel severely unwell.
Outpatient parenteral antibiotic therapy (OPAT) allows these patients under certain
requirements to get discharged from hospital and apply the antibiotic treatment on their own.
For these patients quality of life improves by feeling more comfortable at home and being
able to participate in everyday life or even go back to work. For the hospitals a reduced
inpatient health care means a clear reduction of costs.
The benefits of OPAT are obvious, shown by several studies, and in many countries e.g. the
USA OPAT is a very well established way of treatment. In Germany however OPAT is used very
infrequently and not in a standardized manner. This is probably due to inadequate knowledge
of this form of treatment and deficits in the outpatient care structure, as OPAT is not
reflected in the remuneration system of the German health care system despite internationally
proven benefits.
The aim of this study is to identify and analyze possible obstacles to the implementation of
OPAT into the standard patient care in Germany regarding financial, structural and medical
limitations. Therefore the investigators intend to treat 120 patients in the metropolitan
area of Cologne with OPAT and observe effectiveness, safety, logistics and acceptance to this
kind of therapy.
If successful, the project should help to identify the potential of OPAT for Germany. If
positive effects and feasibility can be demonstrated in the Cologne metropolitan region, OPAT
could become an important therapy option with many advantages for certain patients.
