[Pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone in hemodialysis]

The influence of hemodialysis on the pharmacokinetics of ceftriaxone was studied in 5 patients with chronic renal failure, with a glomerular filtration rate of less than 5 ml/min, and treated by regular hemodialysis. A single dose of 2 g ceftriaxone was administered IV at the end of a hemodialysis, and venous samples were drawn 12 and 24 h thereafter. Two hemodialysis were performed at the 44th (HD1) and the 92nd (HD2) hour, and blood samples were drawn simultaneously on arterial and venous sides of the dialyzer at the onset of HD1 and at the end of HD2. Plasma ceftriaxone concentrations were measured on each sample by both microbiological and chromatographic (HPLC) methods. In these patients, ceftriaxone kinetics are considerably longer than in normal subjects, with an elimination half-life of 16 h, an apparent distribution volume of 800 ml/kg, but without decrease of plasma clearance, except in one patient who had hepatic cytolysis at the time of injection. Plasma concentrations on both sides of dialyzers, or before and after hemodialysis, are not significantly different, and the mean hemodialysis clearance ranges between 26 and 30 ml/min/m2 dialyzer area. According to these data, the dose-interval between successive administrations of ceftriaxone 2 g IV should be 48 h in patients with chronic renal failure, and supplemental doses do not appear necessary after hemodialysis.