Clinical experience in 52 patients with tigecycline-containing regimens for salvage treatment of Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium chelonae infections

We report the largest clinical experience using tigecycline-containing regimens for salvage treatment of patients with Mycobacterium abscessus and Mycobacterium chelonae. Data were collected from 52 patients on emergency/compassionate use (n = 38) or two open-label studies (n = 7 patients each). Based on information that was available, 46 (88.5%) of the subjects received antibiotic therapy prior to treatment with tigecycline. Treatment groups were evaluated based on length of tigecycline therapy (60% of patients with M. abscessus and M. chelonae infections, including those with underlying cystic fibrosis, despite failure of prior antibiotic therapy. Adverse events were reported in >90% of cases, the most common being nausea and vomiting.