Meropenam : Duration of Slow Infusion

• Availability: IV Meropenam 500mg and 1g

Administration

• Should be administered by IV infusion over approximately 15 minutes to 30 minutes.
• Doses of 1 gram may also be administered as an IV bolus injection (5 mL to 20 mL) over approximately 3 minutes to 5 minutes

Stability

• Depended on diluent and storage condition
• In Room Temperature: 8h for 0.9% NS, 2-3h for other diluents
• At 2-8 ‘C : 24h for 0.9%NS, 8-14h for other diluents

Half Life:

•  In subjects with normal renal function, the elimination half-life of is approximately 1 hour in adults, 1.5h for children <2 years

Rationale

• Time-dependent agents
• the maintenance of concentrations for about 40% of the dosing interval above the MIC of the pathogen (t > MIC) was found to be the pharmacodynamic target for maximal bactericidal activity in experimental animal models of infection
•  Recent literature supports prolonged/extended infusion times of beta-lactam antibiotics as a way to maximize the time-dependent bactericidal activity and improve the probability of target attainment

Recommendation

• If slow infusion is needed, treatment must always be started with a 1- to 2-g pulse loading dose administered over 30 min in order to promptly achieve therapeutically effective concentrations,
• Continuous infusion should start immediately afterward loading dose
• Reconstitution of the solution every 6 to 8 h (maximum) must be recommended for optimal use

References

1. Medication Administration: Extended-Infusion Meropenem (Merrem®) Protocol
2. http://aac.asm.org/content/56/12/6343.long
3. https://www.drugs.com/pro/meropenem.html
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25230866