Cefazolin plus ceftazidime versus imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy for treatment of CAPD peritonitis--a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND

Peritonitis is a serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). We studied the efficacy of imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy in the treatment of PD-related peritonitis.

METHODS

We performed an open-label, randomized control study comparing imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy (treatment group) versus cefazolin plus ceftazidime (control group) in the treatment of PD peritonitis. The result was further compared to a historic group treated with cefazolin plus netilmycin. Outcome measures were primary response rate at day 10 and complete cure rate.

RESULTS

We enrolled 51 patients in the treatment group, 51 in the control group, and identified 96 in the historic group. The primary response rate to the assigned antibiotics was 49.0%, 51.0%, and 49.0% for the treatment, control, and historic groups, respectively (p = 0.97). The primary response rate allowing for change in antibiotic was 82.4%, 90.2%, and 82.3%, respectively, for the three groups (p = 0.41). The complete cure rate was 72.5%, 80.4%, and 82.3%, respectively (p = 0.60). Tenckhoff catheter removal was needed in 6 cases in the treatment group, 6 cases in the control group, and 13 cases in the historic group (p = 0.90).

CONCLUSIONS

We concluded that monotherapy of imipenem/cilastatin has similar efficacy compared to the two standard regimens of cefazolin plus ceftazidime or netilmycin in the treatment of PD peritonitis.