Clinical efficacy and safety of teicoplanin

This was an open efficacy and safety study in 310 hospitalized patients (187 male and 123 female) with infection by Gram-positive bacteria. The age range was 12-88 years (mean 49.8 years), and 80 of the patients were older than 65 years. Teicoplanin was given either by fast iv or by im injection, in most cases at a dose of 200 or 400 mg every 24 h with an initial dose of 400 mg. For both routes of administration the mean total daily dose was 286 +/- 5 mg/day. The mean duration of treatment was 8.2 days (range 1-37 days). The infections comprised 133 skin or soft tissue, 53 joint or bone, 40 urinary tract, 39 upper respiratory tract, 21 lower respiratory tract, nine septicaemia, four gastro-intestinal tract and 11 miscellaneous. All Gram-positive bacteria isolated were sensitive to teicoplanin. Teicoplanin was the sole antimicrobial agent given in 269 of the 310 patients. Clinical cure occurred in 79.7%, and improvement in 13.6%. Adverse events related to teicoplanin occurred in 7.7% of the patients. Most were minor and in only six patients was treatment discontinued because of adverse events (three allergy, two bronchospasm, one tremor). The laboratory values and audiometry indices in 67 patients showed no significant changes. Teicoplanin was considered an effective and well-tolerated treatment for Gram-positive infections in this study.