Exploring population pharmacokinetic models in patients treated with vancomycin during continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF)

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic antibiotic dose monitoring can be particularly challenging in septic patients requiring renal replacement therapy. Our aim was to conduct an exploratory population pharmacokinetic (PK) analysis on PK of vancomycin following intermittent infusion in critically ill patients receiving continuous venovenous haemodiafiltration (CVVHDF); focussing on the influence of dialysis-related covariates. METHODS: This was a retrospective single-centre tertiary level intensive care unit (ICU) study, which included patients treated concurrently with vancomycin and CVVHDF between January 2015 and July 2016. We extracted clinical, laboratory and dialysis data from the electronic healthcare record (EHR), using strict inclusion criteria. A population PK analysis was conducted with a one-compartment model using the PMetrics population PK modelling package. A base structural model was developed, with further analyses including clinical and dialysis-related data to improve model prediction through covariate inclusion. The final selected model simulated patient concentrations using probability of target attainment (PTA) plots to investigate the probability of different dosing regimens achieving target therapeutic concentrations. RESULTS: A total of 106 vancomycin dosing intervals (155 levels) in 24 patients were examined. An acceptable 1-compartment base model was produced (Plots of observed vs. population predicted concentrations (Obs–Pred) R(2) = 0.78). No continuous covariates explored resulted in a clear improvement over the base model. Inclusion of anticoagulation modality and vasopressor use as categorical covariates resulted in similar PK parameter estimates, with a trend towards lower parameter estimate variability when using regional citrate anti-coagulation or without vasopressor use. Simulations using PTA plots suggested that a 2 g loading dose followed by 750 mg 12 hourly as maintenance dose, commencing 12 h after loading, is required to achieve adequate early target trough concentrations of at least 15 mg/L. CONCLUSIONS: PTA simulations suggest that acceptable trough vancomycin concentrations can be achieved early in treatment with a 2 g loading dose and maintenance dose of 750 mg 12 hourly for critically ill patients on CVVHDF. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13054-021-03863-4.