Clinical pharmacokinetics of 3-h extended infusion of meropenem in adult patients with severe sepsis and septic shock: implications for empirical therapy against Gram-negative bacteria

Annals of Intensive Care

Table 3 Pharmacokinetic parameters after 3-h extended infusion (EI) of 1000 mg meropenem 8 h for first and third days

Pharmacokinetic parameters	Day 1 (first dose) (n = 24^a)	Day 3 (seventh dose) (n = 23^b)	Change^c from day 1 to day 3 (%)	P^d
Cmax (μg/mL)	15.36 ± 1.11	14.14 ± 2.02	− 7.1	NS
AUC (μg h/mL)	57.92 ± 5.98	43.82 ± 7.33	− 24.3	NS
T_1/2 (h)	1.31 ± 0.24	0.6 ± 0.23	− 54.2	0.04
Ke (1/h)	0.53 ± 0.10	1.15 ± 0.44	+ 116.1	NS
Vd (L)	32.61 ± 4.3	19.83 ± 6.13	− 39.2	NS
Cl (L/h)	17.26 ± 1.78	22.86 ± 3.82	+ 32.4	NS

All values shown as mean ± SE
Cmax maximum plasma concentration, NS not significant, AUC area under concentration–time curve, T_1/2 half-life, Ke elimination rate constant, Vd apparent volume of distribution, Cl total body clearance
P < 0.05 statistically significant
^aOne patient was withdrawn from the analysis as the blood samples were hemolyzed
^bOne patient expired before collection of day three samples
^c(+) indicates increase and (−) indicates decrease from day 1 to day 3
^dPaired data of 23 patients between day 1 and day 3 compared using paired t-test