This article reviews mechanisms, incidences, risk factors and preventive modalities of colistin toxicity as well as colistin use in special populations and through special routes. All clinical studies that examined the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic, efficacy and side effects of colistin in the management of multidrug-resistant organisms in different patient population including pediatrics, adults, obese, critically ill, burn or cancer patients with any route of drug administration were considered. Compared with older recommended doses, current dosing approach improves cure rate without significant increase in the rate of colistin-induced nephrotoxicity. Efficacy and safety of high doses of colistin should be considered in the future studies. Also comparing efficacy and safety of different doses of aerosolized colistin and defining the appropriate dose in different populations is another open area of future researches.
Keywords: colistimethate; colistin; nephrotoxicity; neurotoxicity.