• Bernd Saugel, Marisa C M Nowack, Alexander Hapfelmeier, Andreas Umgelter, Caroline Schultheiss, Philipp Thies, Veit Phillip, Florian Eyer, Roland M Schmid, and Wolfgang Huber.
• II. Medizinische Klinik und Poliklinik, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technischen Universität München, Ismaninger Strasse 22, D-81675 München, Germany. bcs.muc@gmx.de
• J Crit Care. 2013 Feb 1;28(1):9-13.

PurposeThe aim of this study was to evaluate continuous vancomycin infusion (contV) in intensive care unit patients.Materials And MethodsA retrospective study in 164 patients treated with contV was conducted. They were compared with 75 patients treated with intermittent vancomycin infusion.ResultsThe median duration of vancomycin therapy in the contV group was 6 (5%-95% percentile range, 2-21) days. The median daily vancomycin dose in the contV group was 960 (526-1723) mg, resulting in a median serum vancomycin plateau concentration of 19.8 (9.8-29.4) mg/L (target: 15-25 mg/L). The contV administration regime was sufficient regarding achievement of the target serum vancomycin concentration. However, in the contV group, serum vancomycin levels were frequently in a subtherapeutic range on treatment days 1 (44%), 2 (29%), and 3 (23%). In the contV group, serum vancomycin concentration determinations per treatment day were performed significantly less often compared with the intermittent vancomycin infusion group (0.38 [0.15-0.75] vs 0.43 [0.22-1.00], P = .041).ConclusionsIn medical intensive care unit patients, contV is sufficient to achieve target serum vancomycin concentrations. Because contV frequently resulted in subtherapeutic drug levels on the first days of therapy, a higher loading or starting dose might be necessary.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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