Background Levofloxacin exhibits excellent bioavailability as well as pharmacokinetic equivalence between the oral and the parenteral form and is one of the medicines most used in the treatment of CAP.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the savings that may be achieved by treating patients affected with CAP with sequential treatment (switching from intravenous to oral treatment).

Materials and Methods Both the cost and duration of treatment with levofloxacin were considered. The cost was given by: unitary cost of levofloxacin, cost of the nursing staff, cost of the material for parenteral infusion, cost of the hospitalisation. The duration was considered to be 5 days for patients without complications, 20 days for patients with complications and 10 days as the average in common clinical practise. This model was applied to reality in the S.C. Pneumologia of the ASO S. Croce and Carle of Cuneo. The patients hospitalised for CAP and treated with levofloxacin were individualised through the A.S.400 computerised applications.

Results In 2011 351 patients were hospitalised and treated with levofloxacin tablets and/or vials in the Pneumology ward; 90% of them were suffering from CAP.

For 10 days of treatment the sequential treatment would enable savings equal to 85€/patient. This saving would allow us to treat 12 more patients in a switched treatment regime. For 20 days of treatment the difference would be equal to 205€/patient quantifiable as 14 more patients with CAP treated in hospital without affecting the budget.

Conclusions Oral treatment, as it is equally effective, turns out to be the best therapeutic alternative in terms of savings. In future we will analyse the discharge letters of these patients under the model used in this study, thus assessing the real savings.

No conflict of interest.