Clinical evaluation of Aztreonam in otorhiolaryngological infections

Abstract

We investigated the clinical efficacy of Aztreonam (AZT) in 138 patients with otorhinolaryngological infections. A dose of 1g, 2g, or 4g of AZT was administered twice daily for a minimum of 5 days. The efficacy rate was 86% in chronic sinusitis (57 patients), 90% in chronic otitis media (40) and 80% in other diseaes (41). Out of 72 patients treated only with this antibiotic, 5 patients were assessed as excellent, 54 as good, 11 as fair, and 2 as poor, with an overall efficacy rate of 82%. Out of 66 patients treated with both AZT and other antibiotics which were effective to gram positive bacteria, 40 patients were assessed as excellent (p<0.001), 19 as good and 7 as fair, with an overall efficacy rate of 89%. The committee judged the total efficacy rate to be 97% in this study of 138 patients. Side effects included one patient with mild exanthem and two patients with mild diarrhea. None of the patients showed abnormal laboratory findings in the criteria as defined by Chemotherapy (Tokyo). From the above results, Aztreonam was considered to be a safe drug which is useful for the treatment of otorhinolaryngological post-operative infection, espe cially when combined with other antibiotics.