Ceftriaxone. A new cephalosporin with aqueous humor levels effective against enterobacteriaceae.

One- or two-gram doses of ceftriaxone were administered intravenously to 30 patients before cataract extraction. With the 1-g dose, mean aqueous humor concentrations of 0.93 and 0.88 microgram/mL were found at approximately 2 and 12 hours after administration, respectively. With the 2-g dose, a mean level of 2.47 micrograms/mL was observed at two hours; levels of more than 2 micrograms/mL were found in two patients 13 hours after administration. Both the 1- and 2-g doses thus produce aqueous humor levels many times higher than the minimum inhibitory concentration of ceftriaxone for 90% of most Enterobacteriaceae, excluding Pseudomonas. Concentrations adequate for Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis were not, however, obtained.