Effectiveness and use of linezolid in hospitalisation wards.

OBJECTIVE To describe the use and effectiveness of linezolid as an alternative treatment for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. METHOD Demographic, clinical and safety data were collected from hospitalised patients. The information sources were the clinical records and the pharmacy programme. RESULTS Thirty patients were treated with linezolid (median age 69.3, 63% male). The median duration of treatment was 8 days. The most prevalent indication was soft tissues and skin infections (46.7%). The indications were off-label in 40% of cases. Linezolid was used as a targeted therapy in 53%, especially for coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. Clinical healing occurred in 83.3%, and microbiological healing in 40%. Three patients (10%) experienced side effects from using linezolid. CONCLUSION The effectiveness and safety of linezolid is similar to that described in the trials. Its off-label use and the high number of empirical treatments mean that new strategies must be developed.