New Guidelines

Issue date: March 2008

Understanding NICE guidance

Information for people who use NHS services

Preventing infective endocarditis

NICE ‘clinical guidelines’ advise the NHS on caring for people with specific conditions or diseases and the treatments they should receive.

This booklet is about the care and treatment of people at risk of infective endocarditis who are undergoing procedures in the NHS in England and Wales. It explains guidance (advice) from NICE (the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence), which recommends a change in current practice. It is written for people who are at risk of infective endocarditis but it may also be useful for their families or carers or for anyone with an interest in the condition.

The booklet aims to help you understand the care and treatment options that should be available in the NHS. It does not describe infective endocarditis or the tests or treatments for it in detail. A member of your healthcare team should discuss these with you. There are examples of questions you could ask throughout this booklet to help you with this. Some sources of further information and support are on page 8.

Contents

Your care

Infective endocarditis

New recommendations

Am I at risk of infective endocarditis?

Should I be offered antibiotics?

What do I need to know about reducing my risk?

More information

About NICE

The advice in the NICE guideline covers:

Patients who are at risk of infective endocarditis, specifically:

adults and children with certain problems affecting the structure of the heart (such as a replacement heart valve or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy)

adults and children who have previously had infective endocarditis (whether or not they have an underlying cardiac problem)

people having any of these procedures:

– any dental procedure
– any obstetric or gynaecological procedure, or childbirth
– any procedure on the bladder or urine system
– any procedure on the gullet, stomach or intestines
– any procedure on the airways, including ear, nose and throat procedures and bronchoscopy (a test used to diagnose some lung problems).

It does not specifically look at:

people at risk of infective endocarditis who do not have heart problems (such as intravenous drug users)

people having procedures that aren’t in the list above.