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HelpTest Code VANCT Vancomycin, Trough, LAB39
Performing Laboratory
St. Luke's Hospital Cedar Rapids
Specimen Requirements
Container/Tube:
Preferred: Green-top (lithium heparin) tube
Acceptable: Gold-top serum gel tube, plain red-top tube, or EDTA plasma
Specimen Volume: A minimum volume of 1.3 µL plus a dead volume
Stability: Specimen stability is 48 hours capped at 15-25 ⁰C, 14 days capped at 2-8 ⁰C, or 12 months capped at -20 ⁰C. Do not induce foaming in specimens. Specimens can be frozen and thawed up to 5 times.
Collection Instructions: Trough level should be drawn immediately prior to next dose.
Note: 1. Vancomycin time to steady state is after 20 to 30 hours of chronic dosing.
Reference Values
Therapeutic range: 10-20 mcg/mL
Critical value: >20 mcg/mL
Day(s) Test Set Up
Monday through Sunday
Useful For
Vancomycin is a glycopeptide antibiotic, which is bactericidal against many gram-positive and some gram-negative cocci. It is useful in therapy of severe staphylococcal (including methicillin-resistant staphylococci) infections in patients who cannot receive or who have failed to respond to the penicillins and cephalosporins.
Peak serum levels of vancomycin in the range of 30 to 40 mg/mL, and trough blood levels of 5 to 10 mg/mL are suggested for optimal therapeutic effectiveness. In the presence of impaired renal function, unnecessarily high blood levels of vancomycin (approximately 90 mg/mL) may damage the eighth cranial nerve and cause deafness.
Methodology
Turbidimetric Inhibition Immunoassay based on the kinetic interaction of microparticles in a solution (KIMS).
Test Classification and CPT Coding
80202
Report Available
STAT within 1 hour of receipt. Routine within 2 hours of receipt.