Cefotaxime pharmacokinetics following a single intravenous dose to patients with varying renal function

The pharmacokinetics of cefotaxime (HR 756) were investigated in two groups of patients (Groups I and II) with creatinine clearances of greater than or equal to 60 and < 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2 respectively. Each of the 24 patients included in the study received 0.5 g or 1.0 g cefotaxime intravenously as a bolus injection. The decline of serum concentrations was biphasic in all patients, and the data were fitted to the pharmacokinetic two-compartment model. The mean distribution and elimination half-lives of cefotaxime in individuals in Group I were 0.2 and 1.2 hours respectively. In the uremic individuals, the pharmacokinetic parametes did not differ markedly from those in normal subjects, except when renal function was markedly reduced. In severe renal impairment, the elimination half-life increased to 8.3 hours. Cumulative 24-hour urinary excretion accounted for a mean of 59% of the dose in normal individuals, and from 0.3 to 36% of the dose in uremic individuals. Incomplete recovery of intact drug in urine of normal individuals reflects excretion by an extrarenal pathway, possibly as desacetyl cefotaxime. Urine levels were greater than the minimum inhibitory concentrations for susceptible organisms for at least eight hours after dosing in all individuals who produced urine. Because of the relatively small effect of renal impairment on the pharmacokinetics of cefotaxime, dose reduction is necessary only in cases of severe renal impairment.