[Clinical efficacy of ceftriaxone administered once daily against pyelonephritis]

Ceftriaxone (CTRX) was evaluated for clinical efficacy on uncomplicated and complicated pyelonephritis by administering 2 g once daily for 5 days to 16 female patients between 20 and 65 years old (average: 39.7 years); i.e., 3 with uncomplicated pyelonephritis and 13 with complicated pyelonephritis. The pathogens in all 3 cases of uncomplicated pyelonephritis were E. coli. All of them disappeared after the treatment. Twenty-two strains of 10 strains of bacteria were isolated from the 13 cases of complicated pyelonephritis. Twenty of the 22 (91%) strains disappeared. The clinical efficacy was evaluated according to the Criteria for Evaluation of Clinical Efficacy of Antimicrobial Agents on UTI Japan in 15 cases except for 1 case of the complicated type where the CTRX administration was discontinued after the initial dose due to an adverse event. The efficacy rate was 100% in the 3 uncomplicated cases; 'excellent' in 1 case and 'good' in 2, and 92% in 12 of the complicated cases; 'excellent' in 9, 'good' in 2 and 'poor' in 1 (infection was with multiple pathogens including P. aeruginosa). No abnormal values were observed in any cases except for a slight increase in glutamic-pyruvic transaminase and alkaline phosphatase in one case and skin rash in another case which appeared following the initial dose and required the immediate withdrawal of the drug. CTRX is characterized by a long half-life and shows a strong antibacterial activity against GNRs, especially E. coli. The efficacy rate was high particularly following the initial dose in the acute stage of pyelonephritis.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)