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Loading Vancomycin Doses in the Emergency Department

A Randomized Prospective Study of Vancomycin Dosing in the Emergency Department: Will a Loading Dose of 30mg/kg Lead to a More Rapid Attainment of Therapeutic Levels?

Status
Completed
Phases
NA
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT01162733
Acronym
Loaded
Enrollment
99
Registered
2010-07-15
Start date
2010-07-31
Completion date
2012-06-30
Last updated
2014-03-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Infectious Disease

Keywords

Vancomycin, Therapeutic Levels, Infectious Disease, Recommendations

Brief summary

In 2008, our ED administered an average of 245 doses of vancomycin per month. Currently there is no consistency in the ED practice in regards to vancomycin dosing. In 2009, the IDSA put forth new recommendations for vancomycin dosing in order to achieve therapeutic levels more rapidly. It has been hypothesized that if therapeutic levels are reached more rapidly then patients will in turn have better clinical outcomes and that the development of resistant organisms will be decreased. Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as one of the most deadly pathogens that are currently plaguing our patient population. Vancomycin is one of only a few antibiotics that are effective for treating MRSA. It is imperative that the ED physicians consistently and correctly dose vancomycin in order to give the patients the best chance to fight infection while helping to prevent further resistance in this already highly resistant organism. It is believed this study will reveal that the new dosing recommendations by the IDSA will lead to the achievement of therapeutic levels more rapidly. This information will in turn help to convince ED physicians that a change in current clinical practice is warranted and ultimately lead to better clinically outcomes for the patients.

Detailed description

Recently, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) has released new dosing recommendations for intravenous (IV) vancomycin. These new recommendations suggest administering an initial dose of 25-30 mg/kg of vancomycin as opposed to 10-15 mg/kg which is more traditionally done. Currently in the Emergency Department (ED) some practitioners are using the new IDSA dosing recommendations for vancomycin, while other practitioners have not changed their clinical practice. There is currently little data available to suggest that implementing these new vancomycin dosing regimens in the ED will achieve therapeutic vancomycin levels more rapidly than our traditional dosing practice.

Interventions

DRUGVancomycin

15mg/kg

Sponsors

Christiana Care Health Services
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* At least 18 years of age * Treated in Christiana Emergency Department * Receiving Vancomycin for an infection or presumed infection * Being admitted to Christiana Hospital * Planned continued use of Vancomycin after admission.

Exclusion criteria

* Less than 18 years of age * Weight greater than 120 kg. * Concurrent use of aminoglycosides or acyclovir * Sepsis patients being admitted to ICU with presumed diagnosis of pneumonia * Patients currently undergoing dialysis * Pregnant or breast feeding * No plan to continue Vancomycin after admission. * Creatinine clearance less than 50ml/min.

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 36 Hours36 hoursThe objective is to determine if therapeutic levels were reached more rapidly with the implementation of an initial vancomycin loading dose of 30 mg/kg as compared to 15mg/kg.
Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 12 Hours12 hoursPercentage of patients reaching a therapeutic level defined as greater than 15 mcg/mL

Countries

United States

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Study Drug 1
Vancomycin 15mg/kg Vancomycin : 15mg/kg
49
Study Drug 2
Vancomycin 30mg/kg Vancomycin : 30mg/kg
50
Total99

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicStudy Drug 1Study Drug 2Total
Age, Customized
Greater than 18 years of age
49 participants50 participants99 participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
49 participants50 participants99 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
24 Participants22 Participants46 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
25 Participants28 Participants53 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
— / —— / —
other
Total, other adverse events
3 / 493 / 50
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 492 / 50

Outcome results

Primary

Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 12 Hours

Percentage of patients reaching a therapeutic level defined as greater than 15 mcg/mL

Time frame: 12 hours

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Study Drug 1Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 12 Hours3 percentage of participants
Study Drug 2Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 12 Hours34 percentage of participants
Primary

Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 36 Hours

The objective is to determine if therapeutic levels were reached more rapidly with the implementation of an initial vancomycin loading dose of 30 mg/kg as compared to 15mg/kg.

Time frame: 36 hours

ArmMeasureValue (NUMBER)
Study Drug 1Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 36 Hours20 percentage of participants
Study Drug 2Percentage of Participants First Achieving Therapeutic Levels at 36 Hours18 percentage of participants

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026