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Evidence summaries

Antibiotic Regimens for Secondary Peritonitis of Gastrointestinal Origin in Adults

Antibiotics are effective in preventing post-operative complications following infection of the peritoneum (peritonitis), but there is no evidence to support that one regimen is superior to another. Level of evidence: "A"

A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 40 studies with a total of 5094 subjects. Sixteen different comparative antibiotic regimens were reported. All antibiotics showed equivocal comparability in terms of clinical success. Mortality did not differ between the regimens. Despite the potential high toxicity profile of regimens using aminoglycosides, this was not demonstrated in this review. The reason for this could be the inherent bias within clinical trials in the form of patient selection and stringency in monitoring drug levels.

    References

    • Wong PF, Gilliam AD, Kumar S, Shenfine J, O'Dair GN, Leaper DJ. Antibiotic regimens for secondary peritonitis of gastrointestinal origin in adults. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2005 Apr 18;(2):CD004539. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords