Empirical Meropenem Dosing in Critically Ill Patients: Early Assessment of Plasma Exposure and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration Targets

June 26, 2026 updated by: Delfina Recart, Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires

Meropenem Dosing in Critically Ill Patients: Early Evaluation of Plasma Concentrations and Minimum Inhibitory Concentration

The goal of this prospective cohort study is to characterize meropenem exposure in critically ill adult patients receiving empiric antibiotic treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU). Empiric treatment refers to the administration of antibiotics before the causative microorganism and its antimicrobial susceptibility profile are known. In clinical practice, meropenem is commonly administered using different dosing strategies, including 1 g or 2 g doses given as either a 30-minute or a 3-hour infusion. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) is the lowest concentration of an antibiotic required to inhibit bacterial growth and is used as a reference value to evaluate antibiotic exposure. The main question sit aims to answer are:

Do meropenem plasma concentrations differ between patients receiving 1 g and those receiving 2 g, administered as either a 30-minute or a 3-hour infusion during the first 48 hours of empirical treatment in critically ill patients? Does the duration of time above the theoretical MIC of 2 mg/L differ between patients receiving meropenem 1 g and those receiving 2 g, administered as either a 30-minute or a 3-hour infusion during the first 48 hours of empirical treatment in critically ill patients?

Researchers will compare different meropenem dosing regimens (1 g versus 2 g administered as a 30-minute or a 3-hour infusion) to determine which strategy provides a longer duration of plasma concentrations above the theoretical MIC of 2 mg/L.

Participants will:

Receive meropenem as part of their standard clinical care. Have blood samples collected during the first 48 hours of treatment to measure meropenem plasma concentrations.

Have pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters evaluated, including the percentage of time that meropenem concentrations remain above the theoretical target MIC.

An exploratory objective of the study is to describe 28-day mortality and intensive care unit length of stay according to meropenem dose group.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

26

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Argentina
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
        • Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adults ≥18 years of age.
  • Hospitalization in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Intermediate Care Unit (ICU step-down/IMCU), or Coronary Care Unit (CCU).
  • Receipt of empiric meropenem therapy for at least 24 hours, regardless of the site of infection.
  • Written informed consent provided by the patient or their legally authorized representative prior to study participation.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of severe adverse reactions to meropenem.
  • Availability of microbiological identification results prior to blood sampling for meropenem concentration measurement.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Meropenem 1 g
Diagnostic test: Blood extraction
Blood samples of 5 ml were collected within the interdose interval. Sample collection times varied among subjects, ensuring coverage of at least one sample every 30 minutes after administration of 1 g or 2 g of meropenem. After collection, samples were immediately transferred to the laboratory and stored at -80 °C until analysis.
Experimental: Meropenem 2 g
Diagnostic test: Blood extraction
Blood samples of 5 ml were collected within the interdose interval. Sample collection times varied among subjects, ensuring coverage of at least one sample every 30 minutes after administration of 1 g or 2 g of meropenem. After collection, samples were immediately transferred to the laboratory and stored at -80 °C until analysis.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Percentage of time during the first 48 hours of meropenem therapy that plasma concentrations remain above the theoretical target MIC of 2 mg/L (%T>MIC).
Time Frame: During the first 48 hours of empirical treatment
During the first 48 hours of empirical treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

June 26, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

September 20, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

February 15, 2025

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

July 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 26, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 7038

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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