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The effect of age and weight on vancomycin serum trough concentrations in pediatric patients
Theresa Madigan1, Ronald M Sieve, Kevin K Graner
1Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota.
Insights
Increasing vancomycin dosage in children improved trough concentrations, but many still fell outside the therapeutic range. Age and weight significantly impact vancomycin levels, necessitating individualized dosing strategies for pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Infectious Diseases
Background:
- Vancomycin treatment failure is linked to low serum trough concentrations.
- Increased vancomycin dosing is recommended for adults and children.
- Variability in vancomycin trough concentrations persists in pediatric patients despite dose escalation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of age and weight on vancomycin trough concentrations in pediatric patients.
- To compare vancomycin trough concentrations between different dosing regimens (40 mg/kg/day vs. 60 mg/kg/day).
- To identify patient subgroups with suboptimal vancomycin trough concentrations.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of hospitalized pediatric patients receiving vancomycin (2008-2012).
- Patients categorized into groups receiving 40 mg/kg/day (2008-2009) or 60 mg/kg/day (2010-2012).
- Comparison of vancomycin trough concentrations by age, weight, and dosing group.
Main Results:
- Increasing vancomycin dose to 60 mg/kg/day significantly raised trough concentrations in younger and older children, but not in those aged 2-5 years.
- In the 60 mg/kg/day group, only 16.7% of 2-5 year olds achieved therapeutic trough concentrations (10-20 μg/ml).
- Higher therapeutic trough concentrations were observed in older children (6-12 years: 38.7%; 13-18 years: 63.0%), with the highest supratherapeutic levels in adolescents (14.8%).
- Patients >50 kg had significantly higher trough concentrations (17.1 μg/ml) compared to those ≤50 kg (9.3 μg/ml).
Conclusions:
- Higher vancomycin dosing (60 mg/kg/day) improved trough concentrations but a significant proportion of pediatric patients remained outside the therapeutic range.
- Younger children (<6 years) were prone to subtherapeutic levels, while adolescents and heavier children (>50 kg) risked supratherapeutic levels.
- Pediatric vancomycin dosing requires consideration of age, weight, renal function, and indication for optimal therapeutic outcomes.
Background:
Vancomycin treatment failure has been associated with low serum vancomycin trough concentrations, prompting recommendations to increase the daily doses in adults and children. Despite more aggressive vancomycin dosing, there continues to be significant variability in vancomycin trough concentrations in pediatric patients.
Methods:
To determine if vancomycin trough concentrations in pediatric patients differ by age and weight, we reviewed records of hospitalized patients who received vancomycin between 2008 and 2012. Patients were divided into groups that received vancomycin 40 mg/kg/day (2008-2009) or 60 mg/kg/day (2010-2012). Vancomycin trough concentrations were compared between groups and within the 60 mg/kg/day group, stratified by patient age and weight.
Results:
After increasing the vancomycin dose from 40 to 60 mg/kg/day, initial trough concentrations increased significantly in patients younger than 2 and greater than 6 years of age, but not in patients between the ages of 2 and 5 years. In the 60 mg/kg/day group, only 16.7% of patients between 2 and 5 years of age had initial trough concentrations in the therapeutic range (10-20 μg/ml). Initial trough concentrations were therapeutic in a greater proportion of patients ages 6-12 years (38.7%) and 13-18 years (63.0%). Patients between the ages of 13 and 18 had the highest proportion of supratherapeutic initial vancomycin trough concentrations (14.8%). Patients weighing over 50 kg had significantly higher trough concentrations than patients 50 kg or less (17.1 μg/ml vs 9.3 μg/ml, p<0.001).
Conclusion:
Although increasing the vancomycin dose from 40 to 60 mg/kg/day led to a significant increase in vancomycin trough concentrations, a large proportion of patients receiving 60 mg/kg/day of vancomycin had trough concentrations outside of the therapeutic range. Specifically, patients younger than 6 years tended to have low trough concentrations, whereas adolescents and children over 50 kg were more likely to have elevated trough concentrations. Vancomycin dosing strategies in pediatric patients should consider age and weight as well as renal function and indication.
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