Comparative clinical evaluation of azlocillin and gentamicin

Forty-four patients with severe systemic bacterial infection were treated with azlocillin (20) or gentamicin (24). The commonest sites of infection were skin and soft tissue, lungs and bone. Thirty-eight patients had received previous antimicrobial therapy. The commonest infecting organism was Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The overall response rate in the azlocillin group was cure or partial cure in 18 patients and failure in one patient, and in the gentamicin group 15 cures or partial cures and six failures. Four patients, one on azlocillin and three on gentamicin, could not be evaluated. Azlocillin was an effective and safe therapy for the treatment of Ps. aeruginosa infections.