cefamandole and Wounds--Penetrating

One hundred and five patients with penetrating abdominal injuries were treated with single-antibiotic regimens. Forty-seven patients were treated with intravenous (IV) cefamandole and for comparison 58 patients were treated with IV carbenicillin previously shown to be effective against postoperative infections associated with abdominal trauma. The overall incidence of deep infection on a single antibiotic therapy was 8.6 per cent, including two patients on cefamandole alone (4.3%) and seven (12.1%) on carbenicillin alone. One in each antibiotic group died of sepsis with a total mortality of 1.9 per cent. The authors concluded that cefamandole when used alone was found to be safe and more effective than carbenicillin alone in preventing sepsis in patients with abdominal trauma.

Topics: Abdominal Injuries; Adult; Bacterial Infections; Carbenicillin; Cefamandole; Colon; Female; Fever; Humans; Infusions, Parenteral; Intestinal Perforation; Length of Stay; Male; Premedication; Prospective Studies; Random Allocation; Rectum; Wound Infection; Wounds, Penetrating

From 1979 through 1981, 152 patients with penetrating injuries of the intra-abdominal gastrointestinal tract were placed on one of three different perioperative antibiotic regimens in a prospective randomized fashion. The three regimens were A) cefamandole 2 grams every 4 hours, B) cefoxitin 2 grams every 6 hours, and C) ticarcillin 3 grams every 4 hours and tobramycin 1.5 mg/kg every 8 hours. Antibiotics were administered intravenously before and for 48 hours following surgical exploration and repair. The three treatment groups were similar with respect to age, average number of organ injuries, and distribution of organ injuries. Cefoxitin-treated patients experienced uneventful recoveries more often than cefamandole-treated patients (94% vs. 80.3%, p less than 0.05) when the incidence of gram-negative wound infection and intra-abdominal abscess formation was considered, while the number of patients who experienced uneventful recoveries in the ticarcillin-tobramycin group was not statistically different from the other two groups of patients. Bacteroides fragilis was isolated from three of the six abscesses occurring in the cefamandole-treated group, while no anaerobes were isolated from abscesses in patients treated with either of the other two regimens. The results of this study suggest that the most effective perioperative antibiotic regimen for patients with penetrating gastrointestinal wounds should possess activity against both aerobic and anaerobic flora of the bowel.

Topics: Abdomen; Abdominal Injuries; Abscess; Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cefamandole; Cefoxitin; Clinical Trials as Topic; Female; Humans; Male; Postoperative Complications; Premedication; Prospective Studies; Random Allocation; Surgical Wound Infection; Ticarcillin; Tobramycin; Wounds, Penetrating

One hundred patients undergoing operation for penetrating and potentially contaminated wounds of the abdomen were given cefamandole or a combination of cephalothin-tobramycin by a random, single blind method as preventive therapy. Results were evaluable for 49 patients receiving cefamandole for a success rate of 93.9 per cent. The 45 evaluable results in the second group had a success rate of 88.9 per cent. Those in the single therapy group also required fewer days of treatment and of hospital confinement, resulting in lower per patient cost. Results of this study show cefamandole to be an efficacious alternative for surgeons seeking a single agent therapy.

Topics: Abdominal Injuries; Adolescent; Adult; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Cefamandole; Cephalosporins; Cephalothin; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Prospective Studies; Random Allocation; Tobramycin; Wound Infection; Wounds, Penetrating