Reviewing intravenous antibiotics and stepping down to oral

What it is

An IV antibiotic is not a course that runs to a fixed length; it is a decision that has to be reviewed. IV antibiotics should be reviewed within 48 hours, or sooner once scanning has been done, and stepped down to oral agents where that is possible. A patient admitted with a 3-cm pericolic abscess who received IV co-amoxiclav is therefore reassessed within 48 hours, not held on IV for a set number of days.