Estimation of Pharmacokinetic Parameters of Continuous Intravenous Flucloxacillin infusion in the Outpatient Settings (PKFLUCLOX)

Flucloxacillin, a beta-lactam antibiotic of the penicillin class, is considered first line therapy for methicillin sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) in Australia. At our tertiary referral hospital in the home (HITH) program, it has been prescribed in a standard dosage of 8 grams per day by continuous infusion for more than 20 years. The aim of this observational study was to characterize the pharmacokinetic profile of flucloxacillin in patients who receive continuous infusion in the HITH setting, and to undertake population pharmacokinetic analysis performed with NONMEM software by comparing various structural models. This study utilised flucloxacillin concentrations from 44 separate specimens obtained from 23 patients. Twenty-five of these were collected immediately after elastomeric device removal, representing steady-state concentrations, and the remaining 19 were each collected at least 45 minutes after device removal to determine clearance of the drug. Plasma concentrations ranged from 13 to 194 mg/L with median steady-state concentration of 51.5 mg/L and inter-quartile range of 24.6 mg/L. The time-course of flucloxacillin was best described by a 1-compartment model. The best three covariates, CrCL (ΔOFV= -11.7), eGFR (ΔOFV= -5.9) and serum albumin (ΔOFV= -5.8) were found to be equivalent in terms of decreasing the OFV. CrCL was superior in explaining inter individual variability. The best model for flucloxacillin clearance was a one compartment model with CrCL as the sole covariate. The estimated population parameters were 9.5 L for volume of distribution and 8.1 L/h for flucloxacillin clearance.