VANCOMYCIN Powder for solution for intravenous infusion / oral use Ref.[7139] Active ingredients: Vancomycin

Posology

Where appropriate, vancomycin should be administered in combination with other antibacterial agents.

Intravenous administration

The initial dose should be based on total body weight. Subsequent dose adjustments should be based on serum concentrations to achieve targeted therapeutic concentrations. Renal function must be taken into consideration for subsequent doses and interval of administration.

Patients aged 12 years and older

The recommended dose is 15 to 20 mg/kg of body weight every 8 to 12 h (not to exceed 2 g per dose).

In seriously ill patients, a loading dose of 25–30 mg/kg of body weight can be used to facilitate rapid attainment of target trough serum vancomycin concentration.

Infants and children aged from one month to less than 12 years of age:

The recommended dose is 10 to 15 mg/kg body weight every 6 hours (see section 4.4).

Term neonates (from birth to 27 days of post-natal age) and preterm neonates (from birth to the expected date of delivery plus 27 days):

For establishing the dosing regimen for neonates, the advice of a physician experienced in the management of neonates should be sought. One possible way of dosing vancomycin in neonates is illustrated in the following table: (see section 4.4)

PMA: post-menstrual age [(time elapsed between the first day of the last menstrual period and birth (gestational age) plus the time elapsed after birth (post-natal age)].

Peri-operative prophylaxis of bacterial endocarditis in all age groups

The recommended dose is an initial dose of 15 mg/kg prior to induction of anaesthesia. Depending on the duration of surgery, a second vancomycin dose may be required.

Duration of treatment

Suggested treatment duration is shown in table below. In any case, the duration of treatment should be tailored to the type and severity of infection and the individual clinical response.

* Continue until further debridement is not necessary, patient has clinically improved, and patient is afebrile for 48 to 72 hours.
** Longer courses of oral suppression treatment with suitable antibiotics should be considered for prosthetic joint infections.
*** Duration and need for combination therapy is based on valve-type and organism.

Special populations

Elderly

Lower maintenance doses may be required due to the age-related reduction in renal function.

Renal impairment

In adult and paediatric patients with renal impairment, consideration should be given to an initial starting dose followed by serum vancomycin trough levels rather than to a scheduled dosing regimen, particularly in patients with severe renal impairment or those who undergo renal replacement therapy (RRT) due to the many varying factors that may affect vancomycin levels in them.

In patients with mild or moderate renal failure, the starting dose must not be reduced. In patients with severe renal failure, it is preferable to prolong the interval of administration rather than administer lower daily doses.

Appropriate consideration should be given to the concomitant administration of medicinal products that may reduce vancomycin clearance and/or potentiate its undesirable effects (see section 4.4).

Vancomycin is poorly dialyzable by intermittent haemodialysis. However, use of high-flux membranes and continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) increases vancomycin clearance and generally requires replacement dosing (usually after the haemodialysis session in case of intermittent haemodialysis).

Adults

Dose adjustments in adult patients could be based on glomerular filtration rate estimated (eGFR) by the following formula:

Men: [Weight (kg) x 140 – age (years)]/ 72 x serum creatinine (mg/dl)

Women: 0.85 x value calculated by the above formula.

The usual starting dose for adult patients is 15 to 20 mg/kg that could be administered every 24 hours in patients with creatinine clearance between 20 to 49 ml/min. In patients with severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance below 20 ml/min) or those on renal replacement therapy, the appropriate timing and amount of subsequent doses largely depend on the modality of RRT and should be based on serum vancomycin trough levels and on residual renal function (see section 4.4). Depending on the clinical situation, consideration could be given to withhold the next dose while awaiting the results of vancomycin levels.

In the critically ill patient with renal insufficiency, the initial loading dose (25 to 30 mg/kg) should not be reduced.

Paediatric population

Dose adjustments in paediatric patients aged 1 year and older could be based on glomerular filtration rate estimated (eGFR) by the revised Schwartz formula:

eGFR (mL/min/1.73m²) = (height cm x 0.413)/ serum creatinine (mg/dl)

eGFR (mL/min/1.73m²)= (height cm x 36.2/serum creatinine (μmol/L)

For neonates and infants below 1 year of age, expert advice should be sought as the revised Schwartz formula is not applicable to them.

Orientative dosing recommendations for the paediatric population are shown in table below that follow the same principles as in adult patients.

* The appropriate timing and amount of subsequent doses largely depends on the modality of RRT and should be based on serum vancomycin levels obtained prior to dosing and on residual renal function. Depending on the clinical situation, consideration could be given to withhold the next dose while awaiting the results of vancomycin levels.

Hepatic impairment

No dose adjustment is needed in patients with hepatic insufficiency.

Pregnancy

Significantly increased doses may be required to achieve therapeutic serum concentrations in pregnant women (see Section 4.6).

Obese patients

In obese patients, the initial dose should be individually adapted according to total body weight as in non-obese patients.

Oral Administration

Patients aged 12 years and older

Treatment of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI):

The recommended vancomycin dose is 125 mg every 6 hours for 10 days for the first episode of non-severe CDI. This dose can be increased to 500 mg every 6 hours for 10 days in case of severe or complicated disease. The maximum daily dose should not exceed 2 g.

In patients with multiple recurrences, consideration may be given to treat the current episode of CDI with vancomycin, 125 mg four times daily for 10 days followed by either tapering the dose, i.e. gradually decreasing it until 125 mg per day or a pulse regimen, i.e. 125–500 mg/day every 2–3 days for at least 3 weeks.

Neonates, infants and children less than 12 years old

The recommended vancomycin dose is 10 mg/kg orally every 6 hours for 10 days. The maximum daily dose should not exceed 2 g.

Treatment duration with vancomycin may need to be tailored to the clinical course of individual patients. Whenever possible the antibacterial suspected to have caused CDI should be discontinued. Adequate replacement of fluid and electrolytes should be ensured.

Monitoring of vancomycin serum concentrations

The frequency of therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) needs to be individualized based on the clinical situation and response to treatment, ranging from daily sampling that may be required in some hemodynamically unstable patients to at least once weekly in stable patients showing a treatment response. In patients with normal renal function, the serum concentration of vancomycin should be monitored on the second day of treatment immediately prior to the next dose.

In patients on intermittent haemodialysis, vancomycin levels should be usually obtained before the start of the haemodialysis session.

After oral administration, monitoring vancomycin serum concentrations in patients with inflammatory intestinal disorders should be performed (see section 4.4).

Therapeutic trough (minimum) vancomycin blood levels should normally be 10-20 mg/l, depending on the site of infection and susceptibility of the pathogen. Trough values of 15-20 mg/l are usually recommended by clinical laboratories to better cover susceptible-classified pathogens with MIC ≥1 mg/L (see sections 4.4 and 5.1).

Model-based methods may be useful in the prediction of individual dose requirements to reach an adequate AUC. The model-based approach can be used both in calculating the personalized starting dose and for dose adjustments based on TDM results (see section 5.1).

Method of administration

Intravenous administration

Intravenous vancomycin is usually administered as an intermittent infusion and the dosing recommendations presented in this section for the intravenous route correspond to this type of administration.

Vancomycin shall only be administered as slow intravenous infusion of at least one hour duration or at a maximum rate of 10 mg/min (whichever is longer) which is sufficiently diluted (at least 100 ml per 500 mg or at least 200 ml per 1000 mg) (see section 4.4).

Patients whose fluid intake must be limited can also receive a solution of 500 mg/50 ml or 1000 mg/100 ml, although the risk of infusion-related undesirable effects can be increased with these higher concentrations.

For information about the preparation of the solution, please see section 6.6.

Continuous vancomycin infusion may be considered, e.g. in patients with unstable vancomycin clearance.

Oral administration

The contents of vials for parenteral administration may be used.

Each dose may be reconstituted in 30ml water and either given to the patient to drink, or administered by nasogastric tube (see also section 6.6)

Common flavouring syrups may be added to the solution at the time of administration to improve the taste.

Capsules are also available.

Supportive care is advised, with maintenance of glomerular filtration. Vancomycin is poorly removed from the blood by haemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. Haemoperfusion with Amberlite resin XAD-4 has been reported to be of limited benefit.

Shelf life

Unopened: 36 months.

Reconstituted solution intended for parenteral administration:

Physical and chemical stability have been demonstrated for a period of 24 hours when stored at 2° to 8°C.

From a microbiological point of view, the product should be used immediately. If not used immediately, in-use storage times and conditions prior to use are the responsibility of the user and would normally not be longer than 24 hours at 2 to 8°C, unless reconstitution and dilution has taken place in controlled and validated aseptic conditions.

Prior to administration, parenteral drug products should be inspected visually for particulate matter and discolouration whenever solution or container permits.

Reconstituted solution intended for oral administration:

Solution intended for oral administration may be stored in a refrigerator (2° to 8°C) for up to 24 hours.

Unopened: Do not store above 25°C.

After reconstitution: Store at 2-8°C (see 6.3 Shelf Life).

Packs* of one, two, five or ten Type II colourless glass 20ml vials stoppered with Type I rubber stopper, capped with a flip-off cap.

* Not all pack sizes may be marketed.

Preparation of solution: At the time of use, add 20ml of water for injections to the 1g vial. Vials reconstituted in this manner will give a solution of 50mg/ml.

The reconstituted solution is clear and colourless.

Further dilution is required. Read instructions which follow:

1. Intermittent infusion is the preferred method of administration. Reconstituted solutions containing 1g vancomycin must be diluted with at least 200ml diluent. 0.9% sodium chloride intravenous infusion or 5% dextrose intravenous infusion are suitable diluents. The desired dose should be given by intravenous infusion over a period of at least 60 minutes. If administered over a shorter period of time or in higher concentrations, there is the possibility of inducing marked hypotension in addition to thrombophlebitis. Rapid administration may also produce flushing and a transient rash over the neck and shoulders.
2. Continuous infusion (should be used only when intermittent infusion is not feasible). 1-2g can be added to a sufficiently large volume of sodium chloride intravenous infusion or 5% dextrose intravenous infusion to permit the desired daily dose to be administered slowly by intravenous drip over a 24 hour period.
3. Oral administration.

The contents of vials for parenteral administration may be used.

Common flavouring syrups may be added to the solution at the time of administration to improve the taste.

Vials are for single use only. Any unused medicinal product or waste material should be disposed of in accordance with local requirements.