Drug therapy in patients with chronic renal failure.
BACKGROUND
Roughly 20% of patients in hospital have impaired kidney function. This is frequently overlooked because of the creatinine-blind range in which early stages of renal failure are often hidden. Chronic kidney disease is divided into 5 stages (CKD 1 to 5).


METHODS
Selective literature search.


RESULTS
Methotrexate, enoxaparin and metformin are examples of drugs that should no longer be prescribed if the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is 60 mL/min or less. With antidiabetic (e.g. glibenclamide), cardiovascular (e.g. atenolol) or anticonvulsive (e.g. gabapentin) drugs, the advice is to use alternative preparations such as gliquidone, metoprolol or carbamazepine which are independent of kidney function. Drug dose adjustment should be considered with antimicrobial (e.g. ampicillin, cefazolin), antiviral (e.g. aciclovir, oseltamivir) and, most recently, also for half of all chemotherapeutic and cytotoxic drugs in patients with impaired kidney function (with e.g. cisplatin, for instance, but not with paclitaxel).


CONCLUSIONS
Decisions concerning drug dose adjustment must be based on the pharmacokinetics but this is an adequate prerequisite only in conjunction with the pharmacodynamics. There are two different dose adjustment rules: proportional dose reduction according to Luzius Dettli, and the half dosage rule according to Calvin Kunin. The latter leads to higher trough concentrations but is probably more efficient for anti-infective therapy.
Universität Ulm, Medizinische Fakultät, Nephrologie, Ulm, Germany.
Bertram
B
Hartmann
David
D
Czock
Frieder
F
Keller
D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D000075202:Contraindications; D003404:Creatinine / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005919:Glomerular Filtration Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006207:Half-Life; D006801:Humans; D007676:Kidney Failure, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007677:Kidney Function Tests; D008657:Metabolic Clearance Rate / Q000502:physiology; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*
D055553:Prescription Drugs; D003404:Creatinine