Teicoplanin for skin and soft tissue infections: An open study and a randomized, comparative trial versus cefazolin

An open trial and a multicenter, three-group, randomized trial versus cefazolin were performed to study the use of teicoplanin in the treatment of serious skin and soft tissue infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria. A total of 418 patients were entered into the randomized trial, 293 of whom were available for efficacy analysis, and 262 patients were entered in the open trial. The randomized trial had three arms: intramuscular (125 patients) vs intravenous (148 patients) teicoplanin vs cefazolin (145 patients). In both trials teicoplanin was administered once daily, originally as 3 mg/kg per day, with the option of higher doses in the open trial. Cefazolin was given at a dose of 1.5-4 g/day, in three divided doses. In the randomized trial, teicoplanin and cefazolin showed similar overall efficacy. The higher dose of teicoplanin (6 mg/kg) was significantly more effective than the lower dose (3 mg/kg), particularly in patients with diabetes. In the open trial, teicoplanin had a clinical success rate of 93%. There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse events between the cefazolin and teicoplanin groups. Outpatient ambulatory therapy was shown to be a practical method of administering teicoplanin. Once-daily dosing with teicoplanin may allow physicians to treat skin and soft tissue infections on a totally outpatient basis.