In vitro antibiotic removal and bacterial recovery from blood with an antibiotic removal device

The antibiotic removal device manufactured by Marion Laboratories (Kansas City., Mo.) is intended for treatment, before culture, of blood specimens from hospital patients being treated with antibiotics. Measurement of 13 antibiotics showed that the antibiotic removal device removed amikacin, ampicillin, carbenicillin, cefazolin, cephalothin, chloramphenicol, gentamicin, nafcillin, tetracycline, tobramycin, and vancomycin and reduced cefoxitin and ticarcillin to extremely low levels. Three combinations of antibiotics were similarly removed or reduced. Five species of anaerobic bacteria, one yeast species, and six species of facultative or aerobic bacteria were used to challenge the possibility that the antibiotic removal device would trap or inhibit microorganisms. All were recovered from the device in the same numbers as were inoculated.