Characteristics of the studies, PK and dose recommendations related to meropenem
| Study | n | PNA | Weight | Type | Group | Model | Modality | Administered dose | Vd | CL | t1/2 (hours) | Recommended dose |
| Wang et al,23 China | 9* | 2.00 (0.71–3.88) years | 11.50 (9.50–36.30) | P | Children | 2-compartment with first-order elimination with NONMEM | VV–VA | 20–40 mg/kg every 8 hours | — | 11.59 (5.92–20.19) vs 13.51 (3.71–20.80) L/hour ↓14.2% (compared with controls) 11.59 (5.92–20.19) vs 7.9±5.9 L/hour ↑46.7% (compared with adults) | — | The authors recommended the optimised dosing regimens for children with sepsis receiving ECMO depending on the PTA of PK target 50% t>MIC and 100% t>MIC, for children with sepsis during ECMO with different body weight, estimated Cl and MIC of bacteria. |
| Zylbersztajn et al,19 Chile | 9 | 48 (2–165) months | 16 (3.5–45) | P | Children | 2-compartment with Pmetrics | VV–VA | 20–40 mg/kg every 8–12 hours | 0.289±0.295 L/kg — | 0.139±0.102 L/hour/kg — | — | Across each dosing interval, 91% of patients achieved the PK/PD targets for adequate exposure for meropenem. Higher dosing with extended infusion was needed in the meropenem administration. |
Boldfaced fonts represent comparisons with controls within the same study. In other studies, they represent comparisons with non-ECMO neonates from a different published study.
*Number of patients undergoing only ECMO circuit.
CI, continuous infusion; CL, clearance; ECMO, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation; MIC, minimum inhibitor concentration; NONMEM, non-linear mixed-effects modelling; P, prospective; PD, pharmacodynamics; PK, pharmacokinetics; PNA, postnatal age; PTA, probability of target attainment; t1/2, elimination half-life; VA, veno-arterial; Vd, volume of distribution; VV, veno-venous.