[Prophylactic effects of cefmenoxime against postoperative infections after thoracotomy. Studies of cefmenoxime transfer from serum to pleural fluid and of clinical effects of cefmenoxime].

Cefmenoxime (CMX) at a dose of 1 g was administered intravenously to each of 10 patients undergoing thoracotomy, and concentrations of CMX in the serum and pleural fluid were measured. Serum concentration of CMX reached its peak of 43.71 micrograms/ml at 1 hour and decreased to 4.15 micrograms/ml at 3 hours after the administration. The concentration of CMX in the pleural fluid reached its peak of 7.61 micrograms/ml at 3 hours and decreased slowly 5.26 micrograms/ml at 7 hours after the administration. A clinical study with 21 patients was performed to evaluate the effect of CMX as a prophylactic antimicrobial agent in thoracotomy. Patients received intravenous administration of 4 g/day of CMX for 7-10 days following operations. Each patient was evaluated daily for fever, sign of allergic reaction, and wound infection and other symptoms. No apparent infection occurred in those clinical patients except 1 patient with a suspected infection, and 1 case of allergic reaction as exanthema was observed during this study. Prophylactic effect of CMX against postoperative infection after thoracotomy was good.