Theophylline therapy

Abstract

Therapeutic drug monitoring has taken much of the guesswork—and the risk—out of theophylline therapy. When a patient fails to respond to a recommended dosage regimen, the clinician can use serum concentration measurements to calculate exactly how much the dosage should be raised to produce bronchodilation without toxicity. Dr Uden and coauthors begin their article by discussing the pharmacologic and pharmacokinetic properties of theophylline and the rationale for monitoring its use and then present formulas for calculating adjustments in both oral and intravenous theophylline regimens. The basic principles of therapeutic drug monitoring were discussed in the first article in this series (October 1983, page 121).