Transepithelial intestinal excretion of ciprofloxacin in humans

The excretion of ciprofloxacin in the small bowel was studied in 40 patient s undergoing bowel surgery. Ciprofloxacin (200 mg) was administered iv, and intestinal samples were collected over a 120-min period. In ileal loops ci profloxacin concentrations reached a peak of 4.0 mg/L, whereas in caecal fl uid samples, concentrations were <0.16 mg/L. Ciprofloxacin administered dir ectly into the ileal and caecal loops did not result in measurable blood le vels for 2 h. The results confirm that ciprofloxacin is selectively excrete d into the small bowel.