What it means
vancomycinvan-koh-MY-sinAn antibiotic, given by IV for serious gram-positive infections or by mouth for one bowel infection.Full entry works only above a certain blood level and can harm the kidneys and hearing when the level stays too high. The trough, drawn right before a dose, shows the lowest point between doses. Many hospitals now adjust IV vancomycin with an area-under-the-curve (AUC) method that uses two levels or a computer model, but trough levels are still widely ordered and appear on exams.
For the nurse
Draw the trough within 30 minutes before the scheduled dose (usually before the fourth dose), and hold the dose until the result is known if policy says so. Watch urine output, creatinine and hearing, and report ringing in the ears.
At a glance
| Normal range | Typical trough targets: 10–20 mcg/mL [7–14 µmol/L]; 15–20 mcg/mL for serious infections. Targets vary by hospital protocol. |
|---|---|
| Also written | vancomycin level, vancomycin trough level |
Related terms
creatinine
A waste product of muscle that the kidneys remove from the blood; its blood level is used to measure how well the kidneys work.
vancomycin
An antibiotic, given by IV for serious gram-positive infections or by mouth for one bowel infection.
VRSA
Vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: staph bacteria that the antibiotic vancomycin can no longer kill.