Pharmacokinetics of cefotaxime in patients undergoing haemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

The pharmacokinetics of cefotaxime were studied in 13 patients on haemodialysis or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). One gram of cefotaxime was administered intravenously or intraperitoneally. In the haemodialysis patients, the serum concentration after 4h was 9.4 mg/l and the T1/2 was 1.31 h. The 6-h value and T1/2 in the CAPD (intravenous) patients were 4.5 mg/l and 1.59 hours, while the peak value in the dialysate was 11.6 mg/l. In the CAPD (intraperitoneal) patients, the cefotaxime concentration in the dialysate was 157 mg/l after 6 h and the peak value in the serum was 9.1 mg/l. Since cefotaxime is easily removed from the blood by both the haemodialysis and CAPD methods, accumulation of the drug in patients undergoing dialysis is unlikely to occur.