Do intensive care drug infusions support microbial growth?
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Updated: Oct 30, 2026

Multiplex Therapeutic Drug Monitoring by Isotope-dilution HPLC-MS/MS of Antibiotics in Critical Illnesses
Published on: August 30, 2018
S Graystone1, M F Wells, D J Farrell
1Department of Anaesthetics, Toowoomba Base Hospital, Qld.
Abstract:
The potential for commonly infused drug solutions to support or inhibit microbial growth was explored in this study. Drugs examined were midazolam HCl, morphine sulphate, fentanyl citrate, pethidine HCl, bupivacaine HCl, atracurium besylate, vecuronium bromide, adrenaline, dopamine, dobutamine, noradrenaline, isoprenaline, glyceryl trinitrate, sodium nitroprusside and propofol. All drugs were studied in both diluted and undiluted forms. Of the 15 medications investigated, all except propofol were found to be bactericidal and to reduce fungal growth.
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