Efficacy of clindamycin hydrochloride in refractory periodontitis: 24-month results

The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the use of clindamycin hydrochloride in the treatment of adult refractory periodontitis. Thirty patients with a history of unsuccessful treatment with scaling, periodontal surgery, and the use of tetracyclines were entered into the study. Upon entry, the suspected refractory patients were scaled several times and then monitored for the presence of active disease by probing attachment level measurements performed in duplicate. Active disease was defined as a 3.0 mm or greater loss in attachment from the baseline examination or the occurrence of a periodontal abscess. When active disease was detected, patients were treated with scaling and clindamycin 150 mg qid for 7 days. Patients served as their own controls. Twenty four patients demonstrated further attachment loss following scaling alone and were treated with clindamycin hydrochloride. Scaling and clindamycin treatment decreased the incidence of active disease from an annual rate of 8.0% to 0.5% of sites per patient (P less than .001). The mean time required to detect the first active site increased from 4.9 +/- 3.7 months following scaling alone to 16.7 +/- 7.6 months following scaling and clindamycin (P less than 001). Active sites lost an average of 3.1 mm of probing attachment following scaling alone but "gained" back 2.0 mm at 6 months and 1.5 mm at 24 months post-antibiotic and scaling treatment. Bleeding on probing was significantly reduced (P less than .05) from 31.8% of sites pre-clindamycin treatment to 12.3% at 12 months and 17.9% of sites at 24 months post-clindamycin treatment.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)