Background: Infections are common in patients with advanced illnesses for whom the intravenous or oral route is not possible. The subcutaneous administration of antibiotics is a promising alternative, but there is not enough theoretical support for its use. This study aims to explore the effectiveness and safety of subcutaneous antibiotic therapy in the context of palliative care in elderly patients. Methods: A systematic review was conducted using PubMed and Embase, without time or language limits. Seven articles were selected on the effectiveness of subcutaneous antibiotic therapy in adult patients with chronic progressive diseases. The quality of the articles was assessed with the Newcastle Ottawa Scale and relevant data was extracted using a selection capture file. Results: Seven quasi-experimental studies evaluated 865 elderly patients with advanced diseases, comorbidities, and infections (ie, urinary tract, respiratory system, and bone joint) who received subcutaneous antibiotic therapy (ie, Ceftriaxone, Ertapenem, and Teicoplanin). The pooled success rate of subcutaneous antibiotics for the 7 studies was 71%, the therapy failure rate was 22%, its withdrawal mean was 8%, and the mean mortality rate was 7%. The studies were of low quality and were heterogeneous in the types of infections, types of antibiotics, time of follow-up, and outcomes assessed. Conclusions: Pilot studies have found a limited number of antibiotics that can be safely used to treat specific infections. Nevertheless, the data isn´t robust enough to recommend their use.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
1
7%
Neuroscience
1
7%
Unknown
9
64%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 47. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 18 September 2026.
All research outputs
#1,137,139
of 34,354,866 outputs
Outputs from American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®
#28
of 1,932 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#19,740
of 449,901 outputs
Outputs of similar age from American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine®
#2
of 30 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,354,866 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 96th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,932 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a little more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 5.9. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 449,901 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 30 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 93% of its contemporaries.
