A randomized clinical study of cefoperazone and sulbactam versus gentamicin and clindamycin in the treatment of intra-abdominal infections

This report summarizes the experience of investigators in four medical centres who compared the combination of cefoperazone/sulbactam against gentamicin/clindamycin in the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. One hundred and fifty-two patients were enrolled in the study and all were evaluable for safety and tolerance, 110 were evaluable for efficacy. Of the 76 patients (49 male, 27 female) treated with cefoperazone/sulbactam 66 (86.8%) were cured, five (6.6%) improved and five (6.6%) failed to respond to treatment. Of 34 patients treated with gentamicin/clindamycin, 21 (61.8%) were cured, four (11.8%) improved and nine (26.4%) failed. Cure rates for patients receiving cefoperazone/sulbactam were significantly higher than those of patients receiving gentamicin/clindamycin (P less than 0.006). Failures in both groups were attributable in part to pseudomonal and enterococcal infection and abscess formation. The addition of sulbactam to cefoperazone rendered cefoperazone-resistant organisms susceptible to cefoperazone in 11 of the 76 cases (14.4%) and thus permitted treatment with this agent. The present study confirms the safety and clinical efficacy of cefoperazone/sulbactam and suggests that this combination is a viable alternative to an aminoglycoside plus clindamycin for intra-abdominal infections.