Clinical and pharmacokinetic studies on cefuroxime

Cefuroxime, a new parenteral cephalosporin antibiotic, was used for the treatment of 60 patients with verified or suspected bacterial infections. Excellent clinical and bacteriological results were obtained. Sufficiently high serum concentrations were obtained even after low doses of cefuroxime given by both intramuscular and intravenous routes. Side effects were noted in some of the patients and consisted of slight or moderate reversible increases of serum transaminases, and positive direct Coombs' test without signs of haemolysis. No signs of nephrotoxicity were observed. The drug was very well tolerated, only a few patients noting short-lived pain on intramuscular injection. The results obtained in the study indicate that cefuroxime, which has a broader antibacterial spectrum than existing cephalosporins, might become one of the more important cephalosporins.