Outcomes of Blood Culture Test in Palliative Care Unit

Taiichi KAWAMURA; Tsuyoshi TAKAZAWA; Yurika ISHIKAWA; Akira FUKUTOMI; Shigeki OHNO; Tetsumi SATO; Yuichiro NAKAYA; Hanako KURAI; Ayumi SHINGU

Return

Outcomes of Blood Culture Test in Palliative Care Unit

VernacularTitle:緩和ケア病棟における血液培養検査の実施状況と使用抗菌薬への影響
Author: Taiichi KAWAMURA ¹ ; Tsuyoshi TAKAZAWA ¹ ; Yurika ISHIKAWA ¹ ; Akira FUKUTOMI ¹ ; Shigeki OHNO ¹ ; Tetsumi SATO ¹ ; Yuichiro NAKAYA ² ; Hanako KURAI ² ; Ayumi SHINGU ³
Author Information

1. Division of Palliative Medicine, Shizuoka Cancer Center
2. Division of Infectious Diseases, Shizuoka Cancer Center
3. Division of Bacteriology Laboratory, Shizuoka Cancer Center
Keywords: blood culture test; palliative care; cancer; positivity rate; targeted therapy
From:Palliative Care Research 2026;21(1):41-48
CountryJapan
Language:Japanese
Abstract: The aim of this study is to clarify the outcomes of blood culture tests in patients with advanced cancer receiving hospice care. A total of 527 patients who took blood culture tests between April 2021 and March 2024 at our palliative care unit were included in the study. The rate of multiple blood culture set collection, positivity rate and contamination rate were 73.4%, 22.5% and 2.6%, respectively. The most-frequently-isolated pathogen was coagulase-negative staphylococci (28.8%). The rate for antimicrobial-resistant bacteria was 4.5%. Among the positive patients, 79.2% were administered appropriate antimicrobial regimens based on the drug susceptibility tests. The most frequently used antimicrobial as targeted therapy for bacteremia was vancomycin (31.5%). Despite their short lifespans, we conclude that blood culture test can be beneficial for patients receiving palliative care. Further observational studies are required to clarify characteristics of infectious diseases in terminally-ill patients with advanced cancer.