Studying Antibiotic Use and Blood Levels in Children Up to 15 Years on ECMO Support

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are studying how antibiotics behave in critically ill newborns, infants, and children who are on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation ECMO, a life-support technique. The goal is to understand if current dosing of several antibiotics used in pediatric patients on ECMO meets the desired drug concentration targets to fight infections effectively in a national multicenter setting. The study involves patients receiving one of these antibiotics as part of their regular care meropenem, piperacillin-tazobactam, amoxicillin-clavulanate, cefazolin, vancomycin, amikacin, teicoplanin, or ciprofloxacin. Blood samples, and in the case of ciprofloxacin also urine samples, will be taken during routine care to monitor antibiotic levels and evaluate pharmacodynamic targets. The study is non-randomized and includes multiple groups depending on the antibiotic received. Participants are pediatric patients up to 15 years old admitted to intensive care units and receiving ECMO. The study collects samples up to one month to measure how well the antibiotic concentrations reach target levels associated with fighting infection. Researchers will assess risks of underdosing or overdosing and monitor drug concentration patterns. The study is sponsored by University Hospital, Ghent, and will continue monitoring until 2026.

Pediatric Antibiotic Dosing in Extracorporal Membrane Oxygenation (PADECMO)