Adequate cefazolin therapy for critically ill patients: can we predict active concentrations from given protein-binding data?

Abstract

Therapeutic drug monitoring of β-lactam antibiotics has become an important tool for treatment of severe infections, especially for critically ill patients who often exhibit altered PK/PD. Therapeutic targets are based on MIC, which refers to the active concentration of the drug. Cefazolin, a β-lactam agent used for treating of MSSA bacteraemia, has a protein binding of approximately 80 %. Therefore, a reliable determination of the active, non-protein-bound concentration is required to ensure optimal therapeutic outcome.

Keywords

• cefazolin
• drug monitoring
• intensive care units
• liquid chromatography
• mass spectrometry