Can a population pharmacokinetics model built on intermittent infusions accurately predict meropenem concentrations...

Area of Science:

• Pharmacology
• Pediatric Critical Care
• Pharmacokinetics

Background:

• Established a population pharmacokinetic (PopPK) model for meropenem in pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients receiving intermittent infusions.
• Continuous infusion meropenem dosing is increasingly used in critically ill children, necessitating validated dosing models.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the predictive performance of a previously developed meropenem PopPK model in pediatric patients receiving continuous infusions.
• Assess the model's ability to estimate steady-state meropenem concentrations in this distinct patient population.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of data from 57 pediatric patients (163 samples) receiving continuous infusion meropenem.
• Evaluation of bias and precision using median prediction error (MDPE) and median absolute prediction error (MDAPE) for population and individual predictions.

Main Results:

• Population predictions showed 17.0% MDPE and 33.4% MDAPE.
• Individual predictions demonstrated 4.4% MDPE and 19.6% MDAPE, largely meeting acceptable bias (<20%) and precision (<30%) criteria.
• The model exhibited good predictive performance for both population and individual meropenem concentrations.

Conclusions:

• The meropenem PopPK model demonstrates reliable predictive performance for continuous infusion in critically ill pediatric patients.
• This model can inform initial meropenem dosing strategies in pediatric intensive care.
• The validated PopPK model supports model-informed precision dosing for continuous meropenem therapy in critically ill children.