Definition - What does Therapeutic Drug Monitoring mean?
Therapeutic drug monitoring, or TDM, relates to the clinical assessment of interpreting a prescribed medication’s concentration grade within the serum of the blood to determine the drug’s causative effects in proportion to the current dosage being used. In other words, it is the monitoring of a drug's level within the patient's body to ensure that dosages are correct for the desired drug effect.
Doctors apply TDM as a fundamental benchmark for evaluating the relative potency of any drug accounting for fluctuations of its strength based on factors such as age, ethnicity, additional medications, and other health conditions.
SureHire explains Therapeutic Drug Monitoring
Therapeutic drug monitoring, or TDM, pertains to clinical evaluation of a prescribed medication’s concentration level within the serum of the blood, which is observed at designated intervals by a healthcare professional on a recurrent basis to determine proper dosage.
Consequently, many drugs that require TDM analysis are bracketed within a relatively narrow range of consistent effectiveness and toxicity, meaning that variations in strength can arise due to unforeseen personal health issues like diseases, illnesses, stress-related circumstances, or any host of debilitating situations that affect people throughout the course of their lives.
TDM application helps to offset irregularities and maintain systemic balance between variables like other medications or preexisting conditions in a patient by adjusting dosages accordingly to retain optimal results.
