Economic Evaluation of Vancomycin Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Methods

therapeutic success

Therapeutic success will be assessed as therapeutic cure (composite endpoint)or therapeutic failure (composite endpoint). Therapeutic cure is defined as clinical cure and/or microbiologic cure . Clinical cure is defined as the absence of infection signs/symptoms without the need for additional antibiotic treatment. Microbiologic cure is defined as negative blood cultures at 5 days after vancomycin treatment initiation. Therapeutic failure includes at least one of the following -clinical failure, microbiologic failure, premature discontinuation due to ADR or all-cause mortality. Clinical failure is defined as insufficient clinical response to initial vancomycin therapy necessitating antibiotic change. Microbiological failure is defined as a positive culture at ≥ 5 days after initiation of vancomycin treatment.

Time frame: The follow up time varies according to the infection type. It ranges from 7 days to 1 month.

cost-benefit

The hospital and treatment related costs will be compared between the two study arms, from a hospital perspective, associating the clinical outcomes mentioned in Outcome 1 above. The arm showing least costs will be determined as more beneficial to the healthcare system.

Time frame: Ranges from 7 days to 1 month, according to the infection type and possible antibiotic changes if treatment failure occurs