[Ciprofloxacin: pharmacokinetics and a potential for therapeutic monitoring]

Ciprofloxacin is a broad-spectrum bactericidal antibiotic with a concentration-dependent antimicrobial effect. Ciprofloxacin penetrates well into tissues, providing good efficacy against many Gram-negative microorganisms. Due to its good antibacterial efficacy and tolerability, it is often used in the treatment of critically ill. However, high interindividual variability in pharmacokinetics is reported in this population, especially in volume of distribution, clearance, and elimination half-life. Interindividual variability across patient groups results in difficult achievement of the therapeutic goal, mostly described as AUC/MIC ≥ 125. The usual dosing is 400 mg after 8-12 hours intravenously for one hour. In critically ill patients, the lower dose proved to be insufficient. In these patients, doses of at least 1 200 mg/day are required. An initial dose of 800 mg increases the probability of achieving the therapeutic goal by 35-45 %. Although many authors mention the possibility of using therapeutic drug monitoring to achieve the therapeutic goal, there are only few trials describing its benefits.