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Evidence summaries

Ciprofloxacin Versus Doxycycline for Uncomplicated Genital Chlamydial Infection

Ciprofloxacin appears to be less effective than doxycycline for genital chlamydial infection. Level of evidence: "B"

A topic in Clinical Evidence 2 summarizes the results of a meta-analysis including 2 RCTs (n=260) on multiple-dose doxycycline versus multiple-dose ciprofloxacin. Microbiological cure at 2 weeks was 9/9 (100%) with doxycycline 11/20 (55%) with ciprofloxacin 1.5 g and 13/18 (72%) with ciprofloxacin 2 g in one study. In the other study, microbiological cure at 1 week was 87/97 (90%) with doxycycline 88/94 (94%) with ciprofloxacin. Adverse effects were 10/52 (19%) with doxycycline 20/57 (35%) with ciprofloxacin 1.5 g 20/53 (38%) with ciprofloxacin 2 g.

A topic in Clinical Evidence 1 summarizes the results of a meta-analysis including 2 RCTs (n=190) on ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. Failure of microbiological cure was significantly more frequent with ciprofloxacin than with doxycycline (OR 5.0, 95% CI 1.2 to 10.0).

Comment: The quality of evidence was downgraded by sparse data.

    References

    • Low N. What are the effects of antibiotic treatment in men and non-pregnant women with uncomplicated genital chlamydial infection. Clinical Evidence 2005;13:1981-1986.
    • Crofts M, Horner P. Chlamydia (uncomplicated, genital). BMJ Clin Evid 2015. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords