Clinical Pulmonary Medicine

Home Current Issue Previous Issues For Authors Journal Info
Skip Navigation LinksHome > May 2008 - Volume 15 - Issue 3 > Continuous Infusion of Time-dependent Antibiotics: Lung Phar...
Clinical Pulmonary Medicine:
May 2008 - Volume 15 - Issue 3 - pp 167-172
doi: 10.1097/CPM.0b013e3181729d3d
Topics in Pulmonary Medicine

Continuous Infusion of Time-dependent Antibiotics: Lung Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics

Roberts, Jason A. BPharm (Hons); Paratz, Jennifer D. PhD; Paratz, Elizabeth D.; Boots, Rob J. PhD; Lipman, Jeffrey MD

Collapse Box

Abstract

Lung infections continue to represent a significant burden to the healthcare system and improved antibiotic therapy may serve as a means to improve patient outcomes. Time-dependent antibiotics such as β-lactams and glycopeptides are commonly used as therapy for lung infections, and the emerging data suggest that administration by continuous infusion may result in improved patient outcomes. The aim of this review is to identify and analyze the published literature on lung penetration of time-dependent antibiotics administered by continuous infusion. Although only 16 relevant articles were identified during this structured review, data suggest that continuous infusion may have an important role in therapy for various lung infections. In acute lung injury, such as pneumonia, where local inflammation causes tight junctions between alveolar membrane epithelial cells to open, antibiotic penetration is significant. Continuous infusion of time-dependent antibiotics in these patients results in higher trough concentrations than bolus administration that optimizes the pharmacodynamic properties of these antibiotics. In chronic lung injuries, as evidenced in cystic fibrosis and chronic bronchitis, fibrotic scarring and the presence of thick mucus leads to highly variable but significantly reduced antibiotic penetration. In the presence of such pathology, continuous infusion of these antibiotics seems to normalize variable pharmacokinetic parameters as well as result in higher trough concentrations compared with bolus administration. Continuous infusion of time-dependent antibiotics seems to be a suitable method for optimizing antibiotic concentrations at the site of lung infections and as a result may lead to improved treatment success.

© 2008 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

You currently do not have access to this article.

You may need to:

Note: If your society membership provides for full-access to this article, you may need to login on your society’s web site first.

Article Tools

You currently do not have access to this article.

You may need to:

Note: If your society membership provides for full-access to this article, you may need to login on your society’s web site first.

Search for Similar Articles
You may search for similar articles that contain these same keywords or you may modify the keyword list to augment your search.