MULTICENTER RANDOMIZED TRIAL OF OFLOXACIN VERSUS CEFOXITIN AND DOXYCYCLINE IN OUTPATIENT TREATMENT OF PELVIC INFLAMMATORY DISEASE

A multicenter randomized comparative trial was done to assess the safe ty and efficacy of oral ofloxacin (400 mg twice daily for 10 days) ver sus cefoxitin (2 g intramuscularly) followed by doxycycline (100 mg tw ice daily orally for 10 days) for the outpatient treatment of uncompli cated pelvic inflammatory disease (PID). Neisseria gonorrhoeae (GC) gr ew on pretreatment endocervical cultures from 43 of 268 women (16%), a nd in 30 of 247 women (12%) cultures were positive for Chlamydia trach omatis (Ct). Ninety-five percent (122/128) of the women treated with t he ofloxacin regimen and 93% (112/121) of those treated with the cefox itin/doxycycline regimen had cure or improvement on examination at a m inimum of one follow-up visit. All GC species were eradicated by both ofloxacin and cefoxitin. Among women who returned for follow-up, the e radication of C trachomatis was 88% (15/17) for the cefoxitin/doxycycl ine group and 100% (18/18) for ofloxacin. Side effects were more preva lent in the cefoxitin/doxycycline group (15%) than in the ofloxacin gr oup (7%), nausea/vomiting being the most frequent adverse effect. In t his study, it appears that ofloxacin and cefoxitin/doxycycline have si milar clinical effectiveness for the outpatient treatment of uncomplic ated pelvic inflammatory disease.