Clinical study of the effectiveness of imipenem/cilastatin sodium as the antibiotics of first choice in the expectant management of patients with preterm premature rupture of membranes.

We carried out a study to evaluate the effectiveness of imipenem/cilastatin sodium (IPM/CS) in the expectant management of patients with preterm premature rupture of membranes (PPROM). The study group (100 women) who presented with PPROM from 24 to 31 weeks of gestation, between 1997 and 1999, were managed expectantly, and received IPM/CS (plus betamethasone) as the antibiotics of first choice. The control group, 40 women, in 1995 and 1996, with PPROM at the same gestational age, were managed expectantly, but received neither these specific antibiotics (IPM/CS) nor betamethasone. The mean time from PPROM to delivery (11 days) in the study group was longer that that (6 days) in the control group. No infant died within 1 year after birth in the study group, and five infants died during this period in the control group. We conclude that IPM/CS, combined with betamethasone, has potential as the antibiotics of first choice when employed for patients with PPROM.