Clinical effectiveness of high dose versus standard dose of meropenem in ventilator-associated pneumonia caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria: a randomized single-blind clinical trial
Background: Meropenem standard doses are based on the minimum inhibitory concentration of sensitive pathogens and the pharmacokinetic parameter of not critically ill patients. We compared the efficacy of high versus standard dose of meropenem in ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). Methods: 24 out of 34 eligible patients were randomized to receive meropenem 3 g q8h (high dose group, 11 patients) or 2 g q8h (standard dose group, 13 patients) as a 3h infusion. Primary outcome was considered as clinical success that was defined as stable hemodynamic, improved sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score, stable or improved PaO2/FiO2 after 7 days. A sputum culture was taken before intervention. Results: Clinical success rate was not significantly different between the high and standard dose group (54.5% vs. 38.5%, P= 0.431). There was a significant difference in reduction of clinical pulmonary infection score (CPIS) compared to high dose with standard group (P=0.038). SOFA score declined significantly in high dose group through the study (P=0.006). A shorter duration of VAP treatment was recorded in high dose group (P=0.061). We did not observe any significant adverse event related to meropenem. Acinetobacter spp. (34.8%), Klebsiella spp. (32.6%) and, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (19.5%) isolated more frequently from sputum cultures. Conclusion: Treatment with high dose of meropenem seems to be safe. However, it did not provide significantly higher clinical success rate in comparison with the standard dose, but could be considered as an appropriate empirical treatment in patients with severe infection due to reducing in SOFA and CPIS.