The penetrability of cephazolin into the subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle of ischaemic lower limbs with atherosclerotic disease.

Seventeen patients with atherosclerotic disease, who were undergoing arterial reconstruction or amputation of the lower limb, had 2 g cephazolin injected per-operatively in two equal doses by intramuscular and intravenous routes. Samples of subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle from the ischaemic leg, and serum were collected during the operation for assay of cephazolin content. The mean cephazolin levels in the serum, skeletal muscle and subcutaneous fat were found to be well above the minimum inhibitory concentrations required for most important Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens.