Use of a Loading Dose of Vancomycin in Pediatric Dosing

Summary

Vancomycin is an antibiotic administered to children or adults for many types of infections. While it has been used to treat infections of children for more than 50 years we are still not completely certain about the best dose to use when starting treatment with this medication. This study is intended to evaluate whether giving a new higher dose of vancomycin for the first dose will help us get to the desired amount in the body more quickly then the usual first dose. Half of the patients would get the new higher dose and the other half of patients will get the typical first dose. Only the first dose is changed and all doses that follow are the same in both groups and are doses typically used for children.

Timeline

Start

2011-02

Primary completion

2012-02

Completion

2012-03

Publications

• Background Rybak M, Lomaestro B, Rotschafer JC, Moellering R Jr, Craig W, Billeter M, Dalovisio JR, Levine DP. Therapeutic monitoring of vancomycin in adult patients: a consensus review of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the Society of Infectious Diseases Pharmacists. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2009 Jan 1;66(1):82-98. doi: 10.2146/ajhp080434. No abstract available.
• Background Frymoyer A, Hersh AL, Benet LZ, Guglielmo BJ. Current recommended dosing of vancomycin for children with invasive methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections is inadequate. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2009 May;28(5):398-402. doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e3181906e40.
• Background Liu C, Bayer A, Cosgrove SE, Daum RS, Fridkin SK, Gorwitz RJ, Kaplan SL, Karchmer AW, Levine DP, Murray BE, J Rybak M, Talan DA, Chambers HF; Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clinical practice guidelines by the infectious diseases society of america for the treatment of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections in adults and children. Clin Infect Dis. 2011 Feb 1;52(3):e18-55. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciq146. Epub 2011 Jan 4.
• Demirjian A, Finkelstein Y, Nava-Ocampo A, Arnold A, Jones S, Monuteaux M, Sandora TJ, Patterson A, Harper MB. A randomized controlled trial of a vancomycin loading dose in children. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2013 Nov;32(11):1217-23. doi: 10.1097/INF.0b013e3182a26774.

Drugs

Indications