Article Sidebar
Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The relationship between trough concentration of vancomycin and effect on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in critically ill patients
Abstract
Methods. A total of 76 patients admitted between January 2005 and February 2011 were included in the study. Serum vancomycin trough concentration data were collected from the microbiology records. The clinical response was evaluated on the basis of clinical notes and culture test results.
Results. A total of 262 appropriate trough concentration data was included, with a median of 3 trough concentrations per patient. Fifty-four patients responded to vancomycin therapy. The initial trough concentration did not differ between responders and non-responders (p=0.135), but the corrected trough concentration was higher among responders than among non-responders (11.64±1.50 mg/l and 9.25±1.59 mg/l, respectively; p=0.036). The average total daily dose of vancomycin was significantly higher among the responders (p=0.008).
Conclusion. In this critically ill population, a vancomycin dose of 15 mg/kg/day was found sufficient to produce optimal trough concentrations to eradicate the MRSA infection. This study demonstrated the significant relationship between response to treatment of MRSA infection and serum vancomycin trough concentrations.
S Afr Med J 2012;102(7):616-619
