A new reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) method for the detection and quantification of tazobactam in serum and haemofiltration fluid is described. The assay for these biological fluids involves an extraction with diethyl ether followed by derivatization using 1,2,4-triazole. The mobile phase consisted of phosphate buffer-methanol and the detection wavelength was 325 nm. The limit of detection was 0.05 microgram/ml in the two fluids and the calibration curves were linear over the range 0.1-50 micrograms/ml. For a tazobactam concentration equal to 1, 5 or 20 micrograms ml-1, the coefficients of variation were less than 5%. The assay was successfully applied to the analysis of samples from drug monitoring in a patient with renal insufficiency undergoing continuous venovenous haemofiltration (CVVH).