Transfer of cefoperazone into human skin fluid.

The transfer of cefoperazone into exudates from excoriated skin wounds was studied in 13 adolescent and adult patients. Subjects were given an intravenous bolus injection of 50 mg/kg of body weight. Concentrations of cefoperazone in serum and in exudate fluids were determined by bioassay using Escherichia coli as the test organism. Mean (+/- SD) cefoperazone concentration in serum reached 333.3 +/- 103.3 micrograms/ml 30 minutes after the injection and decreased to 16.4 +/- 5.7 micrograms/ml eight hours after the injection. In exudate fluids, the peak value was 52.7 +/- 22.1 micrograms/ml at one hour. Eight hours after the injection, the mean concentration in the exudate was 10.7 +/- 7.2 micrograms/ml, which was considerably above the minimum inhibitory concentrations for important pathogens.