Abstract
This double‐blind study compared ampicillin‐sulbactam 3 g versus cefoxitin 2 g in 136 adult patients at risk for developing an infection after abdominal surgery. Separate randomization schedules were used for colorectal, upper gastrointestinal/biliary, and other abdominal procedures. Study antibiotics were administered within 30 minutes before incision and repeated 6 hours later. Patients having colorectal surgery received a third dose of antibiotic 6 hours after the second. Efficacy evaluations were made on 123 patients, 62 in the ampicillin‐sulbactam group and 61 in the cefoxitin group. The overall postoperative infection rates were 12.9% for ampicillin‐sulbactam and 9.8% for cefoxitin (p>0.05); one wound infection occurred in each group. Adverse events were experienced by 13.2% of the ampicillin‐sulbactam and 19.1% of the cefoxitin recipients (p>0.05). Cost‐minimization analysis revealed that ampicillin‐sulbactam was a cost‐effective alternative to cefoxitin for the prevention of infection after abdominal surgery. 1994 Pharmacotherapy Publications Inc.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 734-739 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Pharmacotherapy: The Journal of Human Pharmacology and Drug Therapy |
Volume | 14 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1994 |