Blood Culture Use in Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Units and Wards

A total of 362,327 blood cultures were analyzed from 27 medical ICUs, 35 medical-surgical ICUs, 121 medical wards, and 109 medical-surgical wards from 48 hospitals in 19 states and the District of Columbia. Blood culture use was significantly higher across all 4 unit types in hospitals with more than 500 beds compared with 500 or less beds and in the West-Midwest compared with other regions. The findings of this study suggest that blood culture positivity may help determine appropriate BC use for individual unit types.

Fabre V, Hsu Y, Carroll KC, et al. Blood Culture Use in Medical and Surgical Intensive Care Units and Wards. JAMA Netw Open. 2025;8(1):e2454738. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.54738