A clinical analysis of monitoring vancomycin plasma concentration and adverse reactions in 32 cases of elderly patients / 中国中西医结合急救杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To discuss the clinical significance of vancomycin plasma concentration monitoring and its relationship with adverse reactions in treatment of elderly patients. Methods The clinical records of 32 patients aged over 70 years admitted in the Emergency Medical Department of Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital were collected. Based on the diagnosis and laboratory examinations on admission, the patients were treated with cefoperazone+sulbactam or moxifloxacin, while in patients with severe infections, intravenous drip of carbapenem antibacterial drugs were given. After treatment for 3-5 days, when no effective results were obtained, according to the pathogenic results achieved from cultures of blood, sputum, secretions, catheter, etc, the corresponding treatment was given. If the infection was caused by positive bacteria mainly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) sensitive to vancomycin, the original antibiotic was replaced by vancomycin or vancomycin combined with other antibiotic; intravenous drip of vancomycin 1 g in 250 mL normal saline was given, once in 12 hours, with a speed of 10 mg/min or not over 15 mg/min. The function of liver and kidney, and auditory impairment were observed, and the correlation between vancomycin plasma concentration and adverse reactions was analyzed. Results The total incidence of adverse reactions in elderly patients with different serum vancomycin trough concentrations was 37.50%(12/32) in which the highest incidence was kidney damage 18.75%(6/32) followed by the hearing loss 9.38%(3/32) and liver damage 9.38%(3/32). There were no statistical significant differences in the rates of adverse reactions among the different vancomycin trough concentrations (20 mg/L) and [37.50%(6/16), 38.46%(5/13), 33.33%(1/3), all P>0.05], that meant along with the increase of vancomycin concentration, no tendency of increment of adverse reactions was seen. Of the 32 cases, there were 13 treated by vancomycin combined with other antibiotic, the combination rate being 40.63%. There were 2 cases of hepatic impairment (11.83%), 1 case of renal impairment (7.69%) and none hearing damage in patients treated with combination of antibiotic therapy. Therefore no correlation was concluded between the occurrence of adverse reactions and the combination therapy ( r=0.15, P>0.05). Conclusions In elderly patients over the age of 70 years, there is a higher incidence of kidney damage in the application of vancomycin. Thus, the monitoring of vancomycin plasma concentration in elderly patients has instructive significance in its clinical use.