[Pancreatic kinetics of ampicillin]

Intravenous application of 50 mg/kg of ampicillin was followed by determination of ampicillin concentrations in surgically removed pancrease tissue of human patients and dogs. Concentration curves in pure pancreatic juice were recorded from dogs in which external pancreatic fistulae had been surgically induced. The ampicillin concentrations recorded from both human tissue and dogs were as low as six to eight per cent relative to corresponding serum levels. Values as low as 0.13 to 1.5 per cent relative to corresponding serum levels were recorded from pure pancreatic juice of dogs and from one human patient. These findings are likely to suggest that the permeation of ampicillin into the pancreas i too low and, consequently, cannot be effective for prophylaxis and therapy in the context of infectious complications.