Pharmacokinetics of cefotaxime in intensive care patients: exploration of the sources of variability with a population model

Background :Cefotaxime is a beta-lactam antibiotics commonly used in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. In this population, pathophysiological modifications induce a high inter- and intra-individual pharmacokinetic variability which can result in supra or sub-therapeutic concentrations of cefotaxime. Indeed, it has recently been shown that the risk of not meeting the PK/PD target was particularly high with cefotaxime in ICU patients1. To date, only one population PK study has been performed in this context2. A better understanding of the sources and correlates of PK variability in ICU patients is then required to perform cefotaxime a priori dose adjustment.