PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Haydar, Sahar M. AU - Hallit, Souheil R. AU - Hallit, Rabih R. AU - Salameh, Pascale R. AU - Faddoul, Lama J. AU - Chahine, Bahia AG. AU - Malaeb, Diana N. TI - Adherence to international guidelines for the treatment of meningitis infections in Lebanon AID - 10.15537/smj.2019.3.23965 DP - 2019 Mar 01 TA - Saudi Medical Journal PG - 260--265 VI - 40 IP - 3 4099 - http://smj.org.sa/content/40/3/260.short 4100 - http://smj.org.sa/content/40/3/260.full SO - Saudi Med J2019 Mar 01; 40 AB - Objectives: To assess meningitis treatment in Lebanon’s compatibility with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) guidelines and the effect of non-compliance on mortality.Methods: This is a retrospective study, conducted in 5 Lebanese hospitals, and enrolling all patients diagnosed with meningitis who presented to the involved hospitals from January 2008 to December 2016.Results: A total of 252 participants were enrolled in the study. Of these patients, 205 (82.7%) were diagnosed with viral meningitis and 47 (17.3%) with bacterial meningitis, which was confirmed using laboratory tests. For patients with viral meningitis, 128 (62.4%) remained on the initial prescribed antibiotics despite the negative cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and blood culture results. For bacterial meningitis patients, 30.8% received treatment regimen incompatible with the IDSA guidelines. The most common reason for the treatment incompatibility was the definitive drug choice after the culture results (49.1%) and the least common reason was inappropriate hospital stay days (25.9%). The mortality rate was 13.5%. Having low proteins values in the CSF (odds ratio=0.095) was associated with lower mortality compared to patients with normal protein values.Conclusion: This study shows a high percentage of inappropriate treatment in Lebanese hospitals despite these hospitals having adopted international treatment guidelines. This inappropriate management was associated with an increasing rate of mortality and neurological complications.