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To the Editor: We read with great interest the paper published in the Journal on November 19, 2019, by Abe et al. [1]. The authors reported not to retrieve any association between earlier antibiotic administration and reduction in inhospital mortality of severe sepsis. First of all, the authors must be congratulated for their interesting work aiming to clarify the real impact of earlier antibiotic administration in septic shock, one of the key elements of care highlighted by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) [2]. Nevertheless, to our opinion, some methodological issues deserve their results interpretation. From a statistical point of view, the categorization of the variable “time-toantibiotic therapy” induces an information loss. Despite facilitating results interpretation, such categorization implies two consequences. First, it assumes that the treatment effect of antibiotic administration, from the 1st minute, if practically possible, to the 59th minute after diagnosis, is equivalent. Second, it would imply that the antibiotic therapy treatment effect is equivalent in all predefined categories, from 0–60 to 361–1440min, which does not correspond to the reality, because the relationship between antibiotic therapy and mortality is not linear [3, 4]. In the present study, the negativity of the association between time to antibiotics (continuous variable) and mortality (OR = 0.999 [0.997–1.000]; p = 0.152) reflects this lack of linearity of the antibiotic therapy treatment effect. Furthermore, from a practical point of view, it is quite rare that the antibiotic therapy treatment effect is maximum since the first hour after administration. Beyond this, to reach infected tissues, antibiotics need the restoration of a sufficient tissue perfusion pressure [5]. In their study, the authors [1] take into account the compliance rate to the first line of hemodynamic optimization (fluid expansion completed within 3 h) as a potential cofounder in their multivariate analysis but do not inform about the mean blood pressure (the reflect of tissue perfusion pressure) reached [2]. We fully agree with the authors that the impact of earlier antibiotic therapy is greater for most severe septic patients, but as reminded in the SSC, the outcome of these patients is not only dependent on a sole therapy but more from a bundle of care [2]. More than the completion of guideline principles, we believe that impact on outcome is strongly affected by achievement of objectives, especially when the gravity is higher. Among the objectives to be achieved, we think that early hemodynamic optimization and antibiotic administration are the two utmost treatments allowing to reduce septic shock mortality.

critical care

Implementation of earlier antibiotic administration in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock in Japan: antibiotic action needs time and tissue perfusion to reach target