Cefoxitin sodium: double-blind vaginal hysterectomy prophylaxis in premenopausal patients

Cefoxtin sodium is a new semisynthetic cephamycin antibiotic derivative of cephamycin-C. It has a broad antibacterial spectrum in vivo and in vitro that includes all strains of cephalosporin-sensitive bacteria and the majority of cephalosporin-resistant bacteria. A double-blind (cefoxitin and placebo) study was instigated in premenopausal women undergoing vaginal hysterectomy at Louisiana State University Gynecologic Service. There were 152 patients, of whom 125 completed the study. The objective of the study was to determine the clinical effectiveness of cefoxitin as a safe prophylactic antibiotic. Both placebo and cefoxitin groups were from the authors' clinic, and thus there were no major clinical differences among patients. The cefoxitin-treated group had a 10.3% major morbidity as compared to 29.8% in the placebo group. Cefoxitin was well tolerated and there were no adverse reactions in any of the patients.