ICU · Infection / pharmacology

Beta-Lactam Antibiotics — Penicillins, Cephalosporins, Carbapenems, Monobactams

Also known as Beta-lactam · Penicillin · Cephalosporin · Carbapenem · Meropenem · Piperacillin-tazobactam · Flucloxacillin · Ceftriaxone · Ceftazidime · Cefepime · Ceftaroline · Aztreonam · Beta-lactamase inhibitor · Prolonged infusion

The beta-lactam antibiotics share the beta-lactam ring and the mechanism — the bind the PBPs, the inhibit the cell-wall (the peptidoglycan) synthesis, the bactericidal, the time-dependent (the T over the MIC drives the prolonged or the continuous infusion in the severe sepsis). The four subclasses: the penicillins (the piperacillin-tazobactam the broad and the pseudomonal, the flucloxacillin the staph MSSA not MRSA, the amoxiclav), the cephalosporins (the ceftriaxone or the cefotaxime the 3rd no pseudomonal, the ceftazidime the 3rd pseudomonal, the cefepime the 4th pseudomonal, the ceftaroline the 5th MRSA), the carbapenems (the meropenem the broadest — the ESBL — the reserve for the MDR, the imipenem the seizures), and the monobactams (the aztreonam the Gram-negative only, the safe in the penicillin allergy). The resistance: the beta-lactamases (the solved by the clavulanate or the tazobactam or the avibactam), the altered PBPs (the MRSA PBP2a — needs the vancomycin). The adverse: the allergy (the low cross-reactivity), the C. difficile, the interstitial nephritis, the seizures (the high-dose or the imipenem).

Checked against its sources on 2 Sept 2026