Mnemonics in Infectious Diseases

'Lucky seven'

At our institution, we use the once-daily parenteral aminoglycoside protocol developed at Hartford Hospital, Hartford, Connecticut . The protocol is an easy method of remembering the dosing regimen for gentamicin or tobramycin sulfate:

Give 7 mg/kg (unless patient is morbidly obese). Check the drug level 7 hours after the start of infusion. If the serum level is less than 7 mg/L, give the drug every 24 hours. (If the serum level is more than 7 mg/L, check the nomogram for dosing interval.)

Christopher Parker, DO Kelly Echevarria, RPh El Paso, Texas

Reference- Nicolau DP, Freeman CD, Belliveau PP, et al. Experience with a once-daily aminoglycoside program administered to 2,184 adult patients. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 1995;39(3):650-5