Abstract
A couple of centuries ago, medicine was based on the use of "the right drug for the right disease," to ensure a therapeutic success. Now that we know more about pharmacokinetics, we can say that this statement is totally false. The participation of physicians in the treatment of any disease is not limited just to establishing a good diagnosis and choosing the right drug, but also includes a consideration of the wide individual variability and pharmacokinetic characteristics of the patients as well as to know that therapeutic success can only be achieved by maintaining the therapeutic concentrations at the biological site where the drug exerts its action. Most drugs have a relatively wide therapeutic range however, there are drugs such as diphenylhydantoin, digoxin and gentamicin among others, in which the difference between toxic and therapeutic concentrations is very close. The clinician must know the adverse effects of the drugs and be able to timely identify them. For this, the clinician has to request the plasma concentrations of the drugs. The importance of understanding the pharmacokinetic concepts lies on the above considerations. It is of great value and very basic for the proper management of patients. In this chapter, we will discuss the basic pharmacokinetic concepts and their clinical application.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | The Optimization of Drug Prescribing in Children |
| Publisher | Nova Science Publishers, Inc. |
| Pages | 1-23 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781536130263 |
| ISBN (Print) | 9781536122633 |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2018 |