Ciprofloxacin (intravenous/oral) versus ceftazidime in lower respiratory tract infections.

The efficacy and safety of intravenous ciprofloxacin was compared with intravenous ceftazidime in 80 hospitalized patients with lower respiratory tract infection. There were 40 patients in each treatment group. Patients and physicians were blinded to the randomized scheme for treatment groups until patient consent was obtained. The 37 evaluable ciprofloxacin-treated patients received 200 mg every 12 hours intravenously as initial therapy and 29 completed their course receiving oral ciprofloxacin. The 34 evaluable ceftazidime-treated patients received 1 to 2 g intravenously every eight to 12 hours. The two groups did not differ with respect to patient age, infection severity, and admitting diagnosis. Clinical outcomes were similar with greater than 95 percent of treatments in each group being successful. Headache was the most commonly reported complaint (four patients) in the ciprofloxacin group. Three patients experienced substantial increases in serum theophylline concentrations while receiving ciprofloxacin. The predominant pathogens isolated were Haemophilus influenzae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and susceptibility rates for all organisms were similar for both drugs. The mean peak serum concentration at steady state while receiving intravenous ciprofloxacin was 2.3 micrograms/ml, and the mean trough concentration was 0.5 micrograms/ml. Patients randomly assigned to ciprofloxacin therapy received 2.6 fewer days of intravenous antibiotic therapy than those receiving ceftazidime. This 80-patient comparative trial demonstrates that ciprofloxacin and ceftazidime are similar in efficacy and safety when treating gram-negative lower respiratory tract infections. There appears to be potential for cost-reducing benefits through decreased length of intravenous therapy and earlier hospital discharge.