[Study of imipenem-cilastatin at intensive care units]

In a multicentre open therapeutic trial, 85 patients (57 men, 28 women; mean age: 58 +/- 18 years) were treated for documented bacterial infection with imipenem-cilastatin administered alone (65 patients) or combined with another antibiotic (20 patients). One or several underlying diseases were present in 95 per cent of the cases; 83.5 per cent of the patients were under artificial ventilation. The infections treated were septicaemia (35 case), lower respiratory tract infection (37 cases), acute peritoneal infection (6 cases) and miscellaneous infections (5 cases). The majority of responsible organisms (69.4 per cent) were Gram-negative bacilli. Several organisms were responsible for 44.6 per cent of the infections. Clinical cure was obtained in 82.4 per cent of the patients, and 79 per cent of the strains were eradicated. Resistance to imipenem during treatment was observed in 9 cases and concerned 24 per cent of the Pseudomonas spp. strains initially isolated. The drug was well tolerated both clinically and at laboratory examinations.