ABSTRACT
Amikacin is an effective antibiotic in the treatment of severe infections, particularly those due to Gram-negative bacilli. This aminoglycoside has a low therapeutic index and exhibits a wide inter- and intraindividual variability in its pharmacokinetic parameters. Therapeutic drug monitoring improves the outcome and reduces the adverse effects of amikacin, particularly in intensive-care-unit (ICU) patients. Abbott Laboratories has developed a new computer software program which allows individualization of dosage for various drugs including amikacin. This chapter determines the performance of this new software in the individualization of amikacin dosage in ICU patients. It obtains dosing recommendations using the Abbott Pharmacokinetic System. The APIS program runs on an IBM PS/2 and allows classical weighted least-square estimation of pharmacokinetic parameters.
