Pharmacokinetics-pharmacodynamics perspective to optimizing therapy with beta-lactams in critically ill patients: an update

Evidence on the PK/PD perspective to optimizing antimicrobial therapy with beta-lactams in critically ill patients is ever growing. Some unmet clinical needs still require further investigation by means of well-designed prospective studies. Specifically, defining appropriate strategies focused on aggressive PK/PD target attainment of novel beta-lactams in some challenging scenarios, namely major burns, polytrauma, ARC, sepsis-associated transient AKI, would be fundamental in helping intensivists to optimize treatment in different special critical populations. In this regard, population PK/PD studies could represent the starting point on which the TDM-guided approaches and could add further value to providing a tailored 'patient-centric' therapy.