Page 7 of 9: Changes to Piperacillin-Tazobactam dosing and method of administration across Unity Health

Effective June 17, there will be changes to piperacillin-tazobactam dosing and method of administration across Unity Health.

The changes are as follows:

• New starts of piperacillin-tazobactam will be initiated with a first dose infused over 30 minutes. Similar to a “loading dose,” a shorter infusion ensures that blood levels of the antibiotic can be achieved rapidly. Please note that administration of piperacillin-tazobactam by extended infusion is already standard of practice at St. Joseph’s. 
• Subsequent doses of piperacillin-tazobactam will be administered as an extended infusion, with each dose infused over four hours, to maximize drug levels.
• Piperacillin-tazobactam orders will be updated in Epic to reflect the new dosing and method of administration. For most patients this will be 4.5 g IV Q8H infused over four hours for patients with normal renal function.
• The piperacillin-tazobactam IV manual monograph has been updated to support extended-infusion of piperacillin-tazobactam and will be searchable under “piperacillin-tazobactam” in the Resource Library.
• The IV pump library will be updated to accommodate extended-infusions of Piperacillin-tazobactam.

For more information about the reasoning behind these changes, please read this post on The Daily. More information is also available on this UnityNet page.

For any questions related to this change, please reach out to: Reem Haj or Beth Leung