[Cefotetan: clinical trial in elderly persons using a single daily dose of 2 grams as the sole therapy]

Effectiveness of cefotetan, a new generation semisynthetic cephamycin, was studied in a clinical trial in elderly patients. Cefotetan was used as single drug therapy. A single daily injection of 2 g was given to each of 33 elderly subjects (mean age 70.2 years, range 69-92 years). The infections were severe: pneumonia in 13 cases, septicemia in 12, upper urinary tract infections in 3 and miscellaneous infections in the remaining cases. The regimen used proved clinically effective (93% successes) and achieved residual serum levels greater than the MICs of all the Gram negative bacteria and most of the Gram positive cocci isolated. In addition to being efficient, the single daily injection regimen causes minimal damage to peripheral veins, provides optimal comfort to the patient, and saves both material and time.