Some questions of aminoglycoside therapy in the intensive care unit

The pharmacokinetics of tobramycin and gentamycin was studied in patients of the intensive care unit. The "blood-bronchus barrier" was studied by determining the serum and sputum concentrations of the two drugs. At systemic administration, both aminoglycosides passed into the bronchial secretion and when they were inhaled, they appeared in the serum. By culturing the sputum samples of the patients of the intensive care unit, a high ratio of gram-negative pathogens was found. Bacteria were detected in some cases on the objects surrounding the patients, too.