Treatment of infections in hospitalized patients with ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid. A comparative study.

Ninety patients at the Wilmington Medical Center were enrolled in a comparative study to evaluate the efficacy and toxicity of ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid in the treatment of a variety of infections. Forty-seven women with obstetric or gynecologic infections were randomly assigned to receive ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid or cefoxitin. Forty-three patients with gram-negative septicemia or lower respiratory tract infection were given ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid or tobramycin plus piperacillin in a randomized fashion. Of the 47 women with obstetric or gynecologic infections, 23 were randomly assigned to receive ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid, and 24 were randomly assigned to receive cefoxitin. Several patients in each group had underlying diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. Of the 27 pathogens isolated in the group receiving ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid, 26 (96 percent) were eradicated, including all three ticarcillin-resistant pathogens. In the cefoxitin-treated group, 31 of the 33 (94 percent) pathogens were eliminated, including all four ticarcillin-resistant organisms. Three reinfections or superinfections occurred, and cefoxitin therapy failed to eliminate an enterococcus isolate from the endometrium in one patient. The clinical response in both treatment groups was excellent. Either cure or clinical improvement was achieved for all 18 sites of infection in the ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid-treated group and for all 22 sites in the cefoxitin-treated group. There were no systemic drug reactions in either treatment group. In one patient in the cefoxitin-treated group, local phlebitis developed at the infusion site. This reaction responded to local therapy. There were no local reactions among the patients receiving ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid. Of the 43 patients with gram-negative septicemia or lower respiratory tract infection, 21 were randomly assigned to receive ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid and 22 were assigned to receive tobramycin plus piperacillin. Thirty-six patients had gram-negative sepsis, and seven patients had lower respiratory tract infection. Nine of the 36 patients suspected of having gram-negative sepsis were not evaluable because no pathogen was isolated prior to treatment. Twenty-two of the 27 patients treated for septicemia had good clinical and microbiologic responses. Three of the seven patients with pneumonia were not evaluable. Of the four evaluable patients, two had pneumococcus pneumonia; one was treated with tobramycin plus piperacillin and one with ticarcillin plus clavulanic acid. In both instances, the clinical and bacteriologic responses were considered good.