Glycopeptide (vancomycin) and aminoglycoside antibiotics are a class of drugs whose therapeutic use is bounded by narrow-therapeutic-index toxicity, requiring drug-level monitoring (peak/trough serum concentrations) to keep the drug within a therapeutic range that avoids both subtherapeutic dosing and toxic accumulation. Their principal toxicities are nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity, detected through renal markers (BUN, creatinine, urine output) and otologic/vestibular signs (tinnitus, vertigo, ataxia). This concept belongs to nursing pharmacology, relating to the broader discipline of pharmacokinetic monitoring and adverse-drug-reaction differentiation, including distinguishing infusion-rate-related reactions from true IgE-mediated allergic reactions.
Glycopeptide (vancomycin) and aminoglycoside antibiotics are a class of drugs whose therapeutic use is bounded by narrow-therapeutic-index toxicity, requiring drug-level monitoring (peak/trough serum…