Aminoglycoside combinations versus beta-lactams alone for penetrating abdominal trauma: a meta-analysis

Despite several small comparative clinical trials, controversy persists over the best choice of antimicrobial therapy for penetrating abdominal trauma. Some still question whether single drug regimens are as effective as the traditional combinations containing an aminoglycoside. A meta-analysis was performed to address this issue. Meta-analysis is a relatively new statistical tool whereby data from a number of clinical trials is analyzed and pooled to produce useful and more reliable data. In this study, a meta-analysis of 17 published randomized trials was performed to assess the effectiveness of single beta-lactam antimicrobials versus combinations containing aminoglycoside when used for penetrating abdominal trauma. The overall summary odds ratio of the pooled results of these trials was 0.96 (p = 0.833) with a 95% confidence interval of 0.30-3.05. Since not significantly different from unity (1.0), we conclude that single beta-lactam antimicrobials are as effective as traditional combinations containing aminoglycoside in this setting.