The Synapse Season 3 Episode 97 - Antibiotic Infusions...Not All Are Rapid in 30 Minutes!

Send us Fan MailThere are certain aspects of Pharmacology and Pharmacokinetics that are non-negotiable. One of those is the aspect of time in relation to antibiotic effectiveness. How much time is the antibiotic in the system for, vs how long does it take to reach peak effect or be cleared before hand. Certain antibiotics must be ordered and administered over a much longer time than we are used to doing, especially in the ED where we often see antibiotics gravity-infused rapidly over 10-15 minutes "because it is what we do." Often these patients are not exposed to the antibiotic long enough before it is processed out, meaning it never reaches peak effect. The primary concept in pharmacology that refers to the time the body is exposed to antibiotics versus effectiveness is Time-Dependent Killing, often expressed as the percentage of time the free drug concentration remains above the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration.This parameter describes how long the antibiotic concentration stays higher than the minimum needed to inhibit bacteria, rather than how high the concentration peaks. This is different from Concentration-Dependent Killing, but both will be discussed here.