Learn pharmacokinetics
Gentamicin pharmacokinetics simulator
One-compartment model with linear elimination. Pick a preset or enter your own values; everything recalculates as you type.
How gentamicin moves through the body
Gentamicin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic. Its killing effect depends on how high the peak is relative to the bacteria's MIC, while its kidney and ear toxicity rise when levels stay elevated between doses.
Once-daily dosing exploits both facts. A large dose gives a high peak, and the long gap lets the level fall close to zero before the next dose. Bacteria stay suppressed for a while even after levels drop, an effect called the post-antibiotic effect.
Gentamicin distributes mainly in extracellular fluid, so its volume is small, and it is cleared by the kidneys. In the simulator, notice how the curve almost touches zero at the end of each 24-hour interval. Reduce clearance to see the trough rise, which is the pattern clinicians try to avoid.
Learn the concepts
Half-life
What elimination half-life means, how to calculate it from clearance and volume, and why it decides dosing frequency.
Steady state
Why repeated doses build up, why steady state takes about five half-lives, and what accumulation ratio means.
Area under the curve (AUC)
What AUC measures, how it relates to dose, bioavailability and clearance, and why vancomycin dosing now targets AUC.
Bioavailability
Oral bioavailability (F), first-pass metabolism, and why IV and oral doses of the same drug differ.
Loading dose
When and why a larger first dose is used, and how to calculate it from volume and target concentration.
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