Development of acute kidney injury during continuous infusion of vancomycin in septic patients.

purposeFew data are available on the occurrence of renal failure during continuous infusion of vancomycin in critically ill patients.

methodsWe reviewed the data of all patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) between January 2008 and December 2009 in whom vancomycin was given as a continuous infusion for more than 48 h in the absence of renal replacement therapy. We collected data on the doses of vancomycin and blood concentrations during therapy. Acute kidney injury (AKI) was defined as a daily urine output <0.5 ml/kg/h and/or an increase in the serum creatinine of ≥0.3 mg/dl from baseline levels during vancomycin therapy or within 72 h after its discontinuation. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of AKI.

resultsOf 207 patients who met the inclusion criteria, 50 (24 %) developed AKI. These patients were more severely ill, had lower creatinine clearance at admission, were more frequently exposed to other nephrotoxic agents, had a longer duration of therapy, and had higher concentrations of vancomycin during the first 3 days of treatment (C(mean)). The C(mean) was independently associated with early AKI (within 48 h from the onset of therapy) and the duration of vancomycin administration with late AKI.

conclusionsAKI occurred in almost 25 % of critically ill patients treated with a continuous infusion of vancomycin. Vancomycin concentrations and duration of therapy were the strongest variables associated with the development of early and late AKI during therapy, respectively.