A comparative study of netilmicin-cefoxitin and gentamicin-cefoxitin in surgical patients with serious systemic...

A double-blind, randomized study of gentamicin and netilmicin, each in combination with cefoxitin, was done to compare their respective efficacy and toxicity in patients with serious systemic infection. Thirty-seven surgical patients were evaluated for efficacy and 46 patients were evaluated for toxicity. The most frequently cultured organisms were Escherichia coli (15), Klebsiella sp (9), Proteus sp (6), and Bacteroides sp (4). For 23 patients treated with gentamicin-cefoxitin (G-C), the clinical response was favorable in 20/21 (95.2%) evaluable cases, and elimination or marked reduction of 33/34 (97.1%) organisms was achieved. For 14 patients treated with netilmicin-cefoxitin (N-C), the clinical response was favorable in 13/13 (100%) evaluable cases, and 19/20 (95%) organisms were eliminated or markedly reduced. Nephrotoxicity was defined as an increase in serum creatinine to greater than 25% over baseline with an absolute rise of at least 0.5 mg/100 ml to a value greater than or equal to 1.3 mg/100 ml. Based on these criteria, nephrotoxicity was seen in 2/27 (7.4%) patients treated with G-C and in 3/19 (15.8%) patients treated with N-C. Ototoxicity was defined as a greater than 20 dB loss at any frequency. Based on these criteria, ototoxicity was seen in 5/27 (18.5%) patients treated with G-C and 2/19 (10.5%) patients treated with N-C. The data show no significant difference in toxicity and suggest that netilmicin and gentamicin are both highly effective in combination with cefoxitin in patients who have serious infections after surgery.