Impact of an inducement to give high doses of amikacin and gentamicin on serum concentrations in critically ill patients with severe sepsis

Methods Single-center observational study. All ICU patients with clinical indication of aminoglycosides were eligible.ICU physicians were encouraged to administer maximal recommended doses of amikacin and gentamicin (30 and 8 mg/kg, respectively). The first and subsequent doses and corresponding peak plasma concentrations were recorded. Guideline targets for serum concentrations were used with ≥60 and ≥30 mg/L for amikacin and gentamicin, respectively. A target pharmacokinetic/ pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) ratio of 10-times the minimal inhibitory concentration (10xMIC) was also measured.