title: Guidelines for therapeutic drug monitoring of vancomycin: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the availability of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) of vancomycin, vancomycin serum concentrations still do not reach therapeutic concentrations in many patients. Thus, we sought to systematically review the quality and consistency of recommendations for an international cohort of CPGs regarding vancomycin TDM.
  
  
  METHODS
  PubMed, Embase, guidelines' websites and Google were searched for CPGs for vancomycin TDM. Two independent assessors rated the quality of each CPG using the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research & Evaluation II (AGREEII) instrument and data were independently extracted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve guidelines were evaluated and the overall quality of guidelines for vancomycin TDM was moderate. The highest score was recorded in the domain of clarity of presentation, and the lowest score was recorded in the domain of rigor of development and stakeholder involvement. The specific recommendations for vancomycin TDM were moderately consistent and guidelines varied in trough concentration monitoring, frequency of TDM, and serum concentration targets.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overall guideline quality for vancomycin TDM was not optimal and effort is needed to improve guideline quality, especially in the domain of rigor of development and stakeholder involvement.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China; Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhi-Kang
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China; Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Can
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Suo-Di
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Zhai
mesh_terms: D002170:Canada; D016903:Drug Monitoring / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000592:standards; D006113:United Kingdom; D014481:United States; D014640:Vancomycin / Q000097:blood / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014640:Vancomycin