Interventions for treating gonorrhoea in pregnancy

Neisseria gonorrhoeae can be transmitted from the mother's genital tract to the newborn during birth and can cause gonococcal opthalmia neonatorum.

The objective of this review was to assess the effects of antibiotic regimens in the treatment of genital infection with gonorrhoea during pregnancy with respect to neonatal and maternal morbidity.

The Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register were searched. Date of last search: October 1998.

Randomised trials of one regimen of antibiotic versus another in pregnant women with culture confirmed genital gonococcal infection.

Eligibility and trial quality were assessed by one reviewer.

Two trials involving 329 women were included. Amoxycillin with probenicid or spectinomycin or ceftriaxone have a similar effect on microbiological cure, defined by negative gonococcal culture.

Any of the antibiotic regimens tested in these trials appear to be effective for the treatment of gonorrhoea in pregnancy in terms of their effect on microbiological cure. For women who are allergic to penicillin, this review provides reassurance that treatment with ceftriaxone or spectinomycin appears to be at least as equally effective in producing microbiological cure.