Pharmacokinetic and economic evaluation of piperacillin/tazobactam administered as either continuous or intermittent infusion with once-daily gentamicin

This is a critical abstract of an economic evaluation that meets the criteria for inclusion on NHS EED. Each abstract contains a brief summary of the methods, the results and conclusions followed by a detailed critical assessment on the reliability of the study and the conclusions drawn. The administration of once-daily gentamicin to volunteers receiving piperacillin-tazobactam by continuous infusion or by intermittent dosing did not alter the pharmacokinetic parameters of piperacillin or gentamicin. The continuous infusion resulted in lower hospital costs compared with the intermittent infusion, mainly due to a reduction in the labour and supply costs.