Population pharmacokinetics and dosing optimisation of imipenem in critically ill patients

The objective of this study was to explore factors that affect the clearance of imipenem in critically ill patients and to provide a dosing regimen for such patients.

A prospective open-label study enrolled 51 critically ill patients with sepsis. Patients were between the ages of 18 and 96. Blood samples were collected in duplicate before (0 hour) and at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 hours after imipenem administration. The plasma imipenem concentration was determined by the high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) method. A population pharmacokinetic (PPK) model was developed using nonlinear mixed-effects modelling methods to identify covariates. Monte Carlo simulations were performed using the final PPK model to explore the effect of different dosing regimens on the probability of target attainment (PTA).

The imipenem concentration data were best described by a two-compartment model. Creatinine clearance (CrCl, mL/min) was a covariate that affected central clearance (CLc). Patients were divided into four subgroups based on different CrCl rates. Monte Carlo simulations were performed to assess the PTA differences between empirical dosing regimens (0.5 g every 6 hours (q6h), 0.5 g every 8 hours (q8h), 0.5 g every 12 hours (q12h), 1 g every 6 hours (q6h), 1 g every 8 hours (q8h), and 1 g every 12 hours (q12h)) and to determine the target achievement rate covariate.

This study identified covariates for CLc, and the proposed final model can be used to guide clinicians administering imipenem in this particular patient population.