ArticleAnnals of intensive care2012
Continuous beta-lactam infusion in critically ill patients: the clinical evidence.
Article in Annals of intensive care, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 113 citations in OpenAlex.
- β-lactam infusion strategies in critical illness: is continuous superior to extended infusion? A systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in epidemiology · 2026Pooled it
- Strategies to reduce curative antibiotic therapy in intensive care units (adult and paediatric).Intensive care medicine · 2015Guideline
- Optimal dosing of antibiotics in critically ill patients by using continuous/extended infusions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2013Pooled it
- Beta-Lactam Infusion in Severe Sepsis (BLISS): a prospective, two-centre, open-labelled randomised controlled trial of continuous versus intermittent beta-lactam infusion in critically ill patients with severe sepsis.Intensive care medicine · 2016Trial
- Translating Pharmacokinetic-Pharmacodynamic Principles Into Improved Methodology for Clinical Trials That Compare Intermittent With Prolonged Infusion of Beta-Lactam Antibiotics.Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America · 2025Article
- The effect of the administration form of antibiotic therapy on the gut microbiome in patients with infected diabetic foot ulcers - DFIATIM trial.BMC microbiology · 2025Article
- Review
- Prolonged versus intermittent β-lactam infusion in sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- Prolonged vs intermittent intravenous infusion of β-lactam antibiotics for patients with sepsis: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis.Annals of intensive care · 2023Article
- Drug Utilization Evaluation and Impact of Pharmacist Interventions on Optimization of Piperacillin/Tazobactam Use: A Retrospective Analysis and Prospective Audit.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Optimizing the Use of Beta-Lactam Antibiotics in Clinical Practice: A Test of Time.Open forum infectious diseases · 2023Article
- Choosing Wisely internationally - helpful recommendations for antimicrobial stewardship!Infection · 2023Review
- Optimization of β-Lactam Dosing Regimens in Neonatal Infections: Continuous and Extended Administration versus Intermittent Administration.Clinical pharmacokinetics · 2023Article
- Article
- Piperacillin-Tazobactam in Intensive Care Units: A Review of Population Pharmacokinetic Analyses.Clinical pharmacokinetics · 2021Review
- Meropenem Pharmacokinetics and Target Attainment in Critically Ill Patients Are Not Affected by Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Matched Cohort Analysis.Microorganisms · 2021Article
- Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Target Attainment Based on Measured versus Predicted Unbound Ceftriaxone Concentrations in Critically Ill Patients with Pneumonia: An Observational Cohort Study.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Differential antibiotic dosing in critical care: survey on nurses' knowledge, perceptions and experience.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2020Article
- Usefulness of therapeutic drug monitoring of piperacillin and meropenem in routine clinical practice: a prospective cohort study in critically ill patients.European journal of hospital pharmacy : science and practice · 2020Article
- Quantification of total and unbound cefuroxime in plasma by ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry in a cohort of critically ill patients with hypoalbuminemia and renal failure.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
There is controversy over whether traditional intermittent bolus dosing or continuous infusion of beta-lactam antibiotics is preferable in critically ill patients. No significant difference between these two dosing strategies in terms of patient outcomes has been shown yet. This is despite compelling in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) data. A lack of significance in clinical outcome studies may be due to several methodological flaws potentially masking the benefits of continuous infusion observed in preclinical studies. In this review, we explore the methodological shortcomings of the published clinical studies and describe the criteria that should be considered for performing a definitive clinical trial. We found that most trials utilized inconsistent antibiotic doses and recruited only small numbers of heterogeneous patient groups. The results of these trials suggest that continuous infusion of beta-lactam antibiotics may have variable efficacy in different patient groups. Patients who may benefit from continuous infusion are critically ill patients with a high level of illness severity. Thus, future trials should test the potential clinical advantages of continuous infusion in this patient population. To further ascertain whether benefits of continuous infusion in critically ill patients do exist, a large-scale, prospective, multinational trial with a robust design is required.
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.