Treatment of anaerobic bacterial infections with clindamycin-2-phosphate

Thirty-five patients with a variety of serious infections caused by anaerobic bacteria responded to clindamycin. Cure was achieved in 27 of the 32 patients with pleuropulmonary and intra-abdominal infections. Mean serum concentrations of clindamycin for the 8 h after intramuscular administration of clindamycin in these patients were at least 2.5 times the minimal inhibitory concentration of clindamycin for more than 90% of anaerobes. This experience suggests that clindamycin is an excellent and relatively safe antibiotic for treatment of infection caused by anaerobes when combined with surgery (when indicated) or other antibiotics active against aerobic gram-negative bacilli, if present.