Pharmacokinetics of teicoplanin in hemodialysis patients.

As only insufficient knowledge about the dosage of teicoplanin in hemodialysis patients exists, a clinical trial was performed on 26 patients. An initial dose of 800 mg teicoplanin, followed by doses of 400 mg on day 8 and day 15, was administered. In addition to the common clinical parameters (fever, white blood cell count, C-reactive protein), the plasma concentrations of this substance were determined. The HLTterm was 159 +/- 35 h, the Vss 104 +/- 25 1/100 kg and the CLtot 5.3 +/- 1.3 ml/min. It could be shown that the dosage regimen mentioned above produced long-lasting and highly effective levels, sufficiently surpassing the MICs of the expected bacteria (streptococci and staphylococci). The easily administered substance showed no adverse side effects, based on clinical criteria. The above-mentioned therapy nearly always resulted in success according to clinical criteria. Therefore, and due to its easy administration, it seems advantageous to start treatment with teicoplanin in hemodialysis patients obviously suffering from bacterial infections.