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Prolonged Infusions of β‐Lactam Antibiotics: Implication for Antimicrobial Stewardship
Author(s) -
George Jomy M.,
Towne Trent G.,
Rodvold Keith A.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/j.1875-9114.2012.01157.x
Subject(s) - antimicrobial stewardship , antibiotics , antimicrobial , intensive care medicine , stewardship (theology) , medicine , antibiotic resistance , scrutiny , dosing , pharmacology , microbiology and biotechnology , biology , political science , politics , law
The optimal dosage and administration of antibiotics are not only important measures to combat antimicrobial resistance, but they are also integral to antimicrobial stewardship. In light of a diminishing antibiotic pipeline and an alarming rise in resistance, the optimal dosage and administration of antimicrobial agents have been under a great deal of scrutiny. Prolonged infusions of β‐lactam antibiotics have been proposed as an alternate dosing strategy. To summarize the evidence on prolonged infusions of β‐lactam agents and provide their clinical implications for antimicrobial stewardship, we performed a MEDLINE search (1950–2011) of all relevant articles. This article provides a review of data from M onte C arlo simulations, clinical outcome analyses, and pharmacoeconomic studies. Furthermore, protocol implementation strategies are discussed to address antimicrobial stewardship.