Combined ceftriaxone and surgical therapy for osteomyelitis in hospital and outpatient settings.

The combined medical-surgical approach to therapy for osteomyelitis requires patients to receive intravenous antibiotics three to six times daily for 4 to 6 weeks after initial surgical debridement. The greatly extended half-life of the new cephalosporin, ceftriaxone (6 to 8 hours), enabled its intravenous administration once or twice daily to 76 patients for the treatment of osteomyelitis. Cure or improvement was noted in 66 of the 76 patients (87 percent). Most of the failures occurred in the group of patients with osteomyelitis complicated by vascular insufficiency. The once or twice daily dosing possible with ceftriaxone was particularly advantageous for permitting highly cost-effective at home therapy for 42 of the 76 patients.