Therapeutic drug monitoring of gentamicin in neonatal intensive care unit: experience in 68 newborns.

A proper dosing regimen is fundamental when antibiotics with a low therapeutic index, as aminoglycosides (AMG), are used. AMG pharmacokinetics present a strong interindividual and intraindividual variability in neonates; in the premature neonate AMG clearance is reduced and the half-life is longer, leading to higher serum trough concentrations. Neonates may require therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and a "tailored" therapeutic regimen. The aim of this work is to present our personal experience wtih TDM of gentamicin in 68 newborns and to compare it with data available in the literature.