Cefotetan versus cefoxitin in the treatment of patients with biliary sepsis assessed by a biliary sepsis score.

The authors carried out a study to assess the efficacy of an antibiotic treatment (cefotetan or cefoxitin) in 22 stratified patients with biliary sepsis, at low and high risk. The severity of sepsis was assessed by a biliary sepsis score (B.S.S.). No significant difference in results was observed between the two treatments in low-risk groups (cefotetan 80%, cefoxitin 75% satisfactory), while the difference between the high risk groups was significant (cefotetan 75%, cefoxitin 40% satisfactory). In the low risk group it can be stated that better nutritional and immunological status provide adequate host defences and that the antibiotic treatment is less important in determining surgical outcome. In high risk patients the efficacy of an antibiotic, cefotetan in this case, can significantly improve clinical results.