Assessment of an institutional guideline for vancomycin dosing and identification of predictive factors associated with dose and drug trough levels

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of an antimicrobial guideline for vancomycin prescribing deployed using electronic prescribing aid and web/phone-based app. To define factors associated with guideline compliance and drug levels, and to investigate if antimicrobial dosing recommendations can be refined using routinely collected electronic healthcare record data. Methods: We used data from Oxford University Hospitals between 01-January-2016 and 01-June-2021 and multivariable regression models to investigate factors associated with dosing compliance, drug levels and acute kidney injury (AKI). Results: 3767 patients received intravenous vancomycin for >= 24 h. Compliance with recommended loading and initial maintenance doses reached 84% and 70% respectively; 72% of subsequent maintenance doses were correctly adjusted. However, only 26% first and 32% subsequent levels reached the target range, and for patients with ongoing vancomycin treatment, 55-63% achieved target levels at 5 days. Drug levels were independently higher in older patients. Incidence of AKI was low (5.7%). Model estimates were used to propose updated age, weight and eGFR specific guidelines. Conclusion: Despite good compliance with guidelines for vancomycin dosing, the proportion of drug levels achieving the target range remained suboptimal. Routinely collected electronic data can be used at scale to inform pharmacokinetic studies and could improve vancomycin dosing. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The British Infection Association.

Automated summary

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an antimicrobial guideline for vancomycin prescribing using electronic prescribing aid and web/phone-based app. The compliance with the guideline for dosing was generally good, but the proportion of drug levels reaching the target range was suboptimal. The study also suggests that routinely collected electronic healthcare record data can be used to refine antimicrobial dosing recommendations.