how to remember the unasyn zosyn drugs??

[misspiggyback]

havin a hard time remembering the augmentin, unasyn, timentin and zosyn drugs. anyone have good mnemonics?

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[ipizzy]

These are awful mnemonics, but I remember them *because* they are so awful...lol

unASyn = Ampicillin + Sulbactam

Zosyn = piperacillin + taZobactam



The "tins" are the clavulanate combos; the first letter corresponds to the first letter of the respective penicillin:
Timentin = Ticaricillin clavulanate

Augmentin = Amoxacillin clavulanate

 

[ijn]

You aren't going to have to know this kind of stuff for STEP 1 or any other national exam. Those are trade names. Understand the principle of combining beta lactamase sensitive drugs with a beta lactamase inhibitor. Be able to identify a beta lactamase inhibitor or a beta lactamase sensitive penicillin.

Know it for the wards, I guess?

 

[shan564]

My pseudo-mnemonics are pretty bad too, but they work for me.

Augmentin is the one that people always use. Amoxicillin/clavulanate is the classic one that is always used as examples in med school lectures. Clavulanate augments the power of amoxicillin. When amoxicillin doesn't work, you use augmentin.

"Ti" in "timentin" is for "ticarcillin", "mentin" is for aug"mentin", which is clavulanate. Kind of dumb, but it might work.

the unASyn mnemonic that the other person mentioned was pretty good.

Zosyn is also called tazocin, which makes it easy to remember the tazobactam part. Piperacillin can be just a process of elimination, since it's not one of the other three. But I've also heard a lot of people just call it "pip/tazo", which helps me remember that those two go together.



But yeah, you DEFINITELY don't need to know those trade names for Step 1. Although it could help to know which particular penicillins go with which particular beta-lactamase inhibitors.

 

[ijn]

Is there an actual reason they go together or is it just because pharmaceutical company X combined the two and slapped a trademark label on it? I don't see them trying to trick you by combining the "wrong" two for Augmentin.

 

[misspiggyback]

thanks!!

 

[shan564]

Is there an actual reason they go together or is it just because pharmaceutical company X combined the two and slapped a trademark label on it?

I'm pretty sure there's actual data to say that certain combinations are better than others.

 

[Phloston]

Apparently sulbactam isn't effective against Pseudomonas b/c it doesn't inhibit the Pseudomonas ampC cephalosporinase. Only tazobactam can knock that out.

That's what I gathered from Wikipedia as an extra tid bit. Amazing.

 

[Phloston]

And, Shan, I thought you disappeared forever. Now that you're on the "other side," I appreciate you sticking around to help us out 🙂

 

[shan564]

And, Shan, I thought you disappeared forever. Now that you're on the "other side," I appreciate you sticking around to help us out 🙂

Ha, thanks... I still check this forum every day (although not multiple times every day like I was when I was studying for Step 1), but I haven't been posting as much because I've been busy with rotations and 2CK study.

 

[futuredoctor10]

Ha, thanks... I still check this forum every day (although not multiple times every day like I was when I was studying for Step 1), but I haven't been posting as much because I've been busy with rotations and 2CK study.

When do you take 2CK? No idea exactly how Step 2 CK/CS work... since now I am worried about just Step 1 🙂

Just curious since you just finished Step 1...