II. Indications
- Pneumonia
- Pyelonephritis
- Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
- Sepsis
- Neonatal Sepsis
- Meningitis
- Skin and Soft Tissue Infections
- Bone and Joint Infections
- Intraabdominal infections
- Gonorrhea
III. Mechanism
- See Third Generation Broad-Spectrum Cephalosporin
- Cefotaxime has the more Staphylococcus aureus and Anaerobic activity than Ceftriaxone
IV. Dosing
- Precautions
- Bolus dosing via Central Line risks Arrhythmia
- Adult
- Standard
- Give 1 to 2 g IM or IV every 12 hours (every 8 hours in severe infections)
- High Dose (Life threatening infections or Meningitis)
- Give 2 g IV every 4 to 6 hours
- Standard
- Child
- Newborns
- Give 50 mg/kg/dose IV every 12 hours for age <7 days
- Give 50 mg/kg/dose IV every 8 hours for age 1 to 4 weeks
- Mild to Moderate Infections
- Give 75 to 100 mg/kg/day IM or IV divided 6 to 8 hours
- Severe Infections
- Give 150 to 200 mg/kg/day IM or IV divided 6 to 8 hours
- Meningitis (for Streptococcus Pneumoniae)
- Give 225 to 300 mg/kg/day IV divided every 6 to 8 hours
- Maximum
- Limit to 2 g/dose
- Newborns
-
Renal Dosing
- eGFR <20 ml/min: Decrease usual dose by 50%
V. Safety
- Pregnancy Category B
- Safe in Lactation
VI. Resources
VII. References
- Hamilton (2020) Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia
- (2012) Presc Lett, Resource #280706, Comparison of Cephalosporins