Oral cefuroxime axetil: clinical pharmacology and comparative dose studies in urinary tract infection

Cefuroxime axetil, an orally absorbed pro-drug of cefuroxime was used to treat a mainly elderly group of patients with symptomatic urinary tract infections. The drug was clinically effective and the bacteriological short term and long term cure rates (55% and 48% respectively) comparable to those of other antibiotics. The study had to be terminated however after the development of three cases of antibiotic associated colitis. Studies of the pharmacokinetics of the drug in volunteers gave inconsistent results suggesting that there may be variable bioavailability of the compound.