[Indicators monitoring the process of specialized nutritional support. Grupo de Nutrición de la SEFH]. / Indicadores de monitorización del proceso de soporte nutricional especializado.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and develop monitoring indicators of the process of specialized nutritional support that will allow measuring the level of adherence to the established practice standards. METHODS: Those practice standards considered to be key elements of the process were selected to develop performance indicators. The construction of these indicators combined the scientific evidence with expert opinion. Key goals were identified within each standard provided that its consecution would allow increasing the achievement of the standard. Particular improvement initiatives associated to each key goal were generated. Lastly, monitoring indicators were defined allowing undertaking a follow-up of the implementation of the improvement initiatives or either to assess the level of achievement of the key goals identified. RESULTS: Nineteen practice standards were selected representative of the critical points of the process. The strategic map for each standard has been defined, with the identification of 43 key goals. In order to achieve these key goals, a portfolio of improvements has been generated comprising 56 actions. Finally, 44 monitoring indicators have been defined grouped into three categories: 1. Numeric: they assess the level of goal achievement; 2. Dichotomic (yes/no): they inform on the execution of the improvement actions; 3. Results of the practice audits. CONCLUSIONS: We have made available monitoring indicators that allow assessing the level of adherence to the practice standards of the process of specialized nutritional support and the impact of the implementation of improvement actions within this process.

Evaluation of population pharmacokinetic models for amikacin dosage individualization in critically ill patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate the reliability for dosage individualization and Bayesian adaptive control of several literature-retrieved amikacin population pharmacokinetic models in patients who were critically ill. METHODS: Four population pharmacokinetic models, three of them customized for critically-ill patients, were applied using pharmacokinetic software to fifty-one adult patients on conventional amikacin therapy admitted to the intensive care unit. An estimation of patient-specific pharmacokinetic parameters for each model was obtained by retrospective analysis of the amikacin serum concentrations measured (n = 162) and different clinical covariates. The model performance for a priori estimation of the area under the serum concentration-time curve (AUC) and maximum serum drug concentration (C(max)) targets was obtained. KEY FINDINGS: Our results provided valuable confirmation of the clinical importance of the choice of population pharmacokinetic models when selecting amikacin dosages for patients who are critically ill. Significant differences in model performance were especially evident when only information concerning clinical covariates was used for dosage individualization and over the two most critical determinants of clinical efficacy of amikacin i.e. the AUC and C(max) values. CONCLUSIONS: Only a single amikacin serum level seemed necessary to diminish the influence of population model on dosage individualization.