OPAT
OPAT means Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy
Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) is the administration of at least 2 consecutive days of parenteral (usually intravenous) antimicrobial therapy without an overnight hospital stay. It is reserved for those patients with infection in whom parenteral antimicrobial therapy is required but who otherwise could be safely managed without hospital admission.
An OPAT service should be carefully designed and delivered to ensure safe and effective patient care. As such it is essential that a patient’s other social and healthcare needs can be managed safely in the home environment.
An aim of OPAT ist
Allow earlier hospital discharge for selected patients with deep seated infections requiring parenteral therapy e.g. osteomyelitis, endocarditis and device-related infections. [BASC]
There are two types of treatment:
- Patients who need antibiotics once a day
- Patients who need continuous administration of antibiotics
For the second group an elastomeric pump will be used.
amenable infections
suitable antibiotics
elastomeric pump

literature
close patient follow up among patients receiving outpateint parenteral antimicrobial therapy LINK
opat in switzerland: single center experience of a model to treat complicated infections LINK
updated good pracitice recommendations for outpatient parenteral antimicroboal therapy (OPAT) in adults and children in the UK LINK
outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy: updated recommendations from the UK LINK
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service development of a nurse led community based picc insertion service LINK
quality of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) care from the patient’s perspective: a qualitative study (2018) LINK