[Cefepime (Maxipime) treatment efficacy in surgical patients ]

Between September and December 2001 in the "Caritas" Surgical Clinic of Bucharest has been conducted a clinical study for the efficiency of Cefepime (Maxipime) treatment in surgical patients. Introduced in therapy in the last decade of the XXth Century, Cefepime (Maxipime) is the most active 4th generation cephalosporin, due to its extended spectrum of activity and its high resistance against beta-lactamases. Cefepime (Maxipime) has a very large spectrum, including the majority of the microorganisms implicated in surgical infections: Enterobacter, Klebsiella pneumoniae/speciae, Proteus mirabilis, Bacillus fragillis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Serratia, Citrobacter and other Gram-negative bacilii, Gram-positive cocci (Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes). The clinical study included 30 surgical patients, the selection criteria being the severity of the present infection or the potential risk after major (abdominal) surgery. We introduced Cefepime (Maxipime) as first choice of monotheraphy, except: severe, life threatening nosocomial infections, when we associated Cefepime (Maxipime) with aminoglycosides; failure of another antibiotheraphy schema, when we associated Cefepime (Maxipime) with aminoglycosides; suspicion of anaerobe contamination, when we associated Cefepime (Maxipime) with metronidazole. The results of our study support the utilization of Cefepime (Maxipime) as the best choice antibiotic in severe surgical infections, especially in the intensive care and surgical units. Cefepime (Maxipime) can be synergically associated with aminoglycosides and imidazoles (metronidazole).