EFFICACY AND SAFETY OF PIPERACILLIN TAZOBACTAM IN INTRAABDOMINAL INFECTIONS/

Intra-abdominal infections are a serious problem for surgeons. Treatme nt consists of a combination of operation, antimicrobial treatment, an d supportive measures. beta-Lactam antibiotics have a major role in th e treatment of peritonitis, and in combination with beta-lactamase inh ibitors, the penicillins have an even larger part to play than previou sly. A multicentre prospective trial to evaluate the efficacy and safe ty of piperacillin/ tazobactam in the treatment of serious intra-abdom inal infections was conducted in Europe. One hundred and six evaluable patients with documented intra-abdominal infections were treated with piperacillin 4 g/tazobactam 500 mg every eight hours. The most common diagnoses were peritonitis, intra-abdominal abscess, and complicated diverticulitis. A 90% favourable clinical response rate (cured/improve d) was found during the first two weeks of treatment. Piperacillin/taz obactam was extremely active against the Gram-negative aerobic, Gram-p ositive aerobic, and anaerobic bacteria isolated in this trial. Overal l, the drug was well tolerated and the side effects were minimal.