[Inter-individual and intra-individual pharmacokinetic variability during teicoplanin therapy in geriatric patients]

The authors had for aim to assess the inter- and intra-individual variability of teicoplanin pharmacokinetic parameters in geriatric patients.

A cohort of 90 geriatric patients, treated with teicoplanin, was used to build two models describing the pharmacokinetics of teicoplanin, at the beginning and at the end of treatment respectively.

The inter- and intra-individual variability of parameters were important as shown respectively by the coefficients of variation of pharmacokinetic parameters ranging from 125 to 694% and the half-life change during the treatment (by a factor of three to more than 30) for 60% of patients.

The results revealed that elderly patients presented significant variability, which was only partly explained by the renal function. Therapeutic monitoring of teicoplanin in geriatric patients should be undertaken at the end of the loading dose and repeatedly during the maintenance phase to prevent over- or underexposure.