Treatment of gonorrhea with thiamphenicol: a study of 4,500 male patients.

In an eight-year study of thiamphenicol, 4,500 male patients with previously untreated, acute, uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis were selected for treatment with this drug. Gonococcal urethritis was diagnosed in all instances by microscopic examination of gram-stained urethral smears. In ambiguous cases, specimens were cultured on modified Thayer-Martin medium. All patients initially received a single oral dose of 2.5 g of thiamphenicol. This regimen resulted in clinical recovery within 24-48 hr in 4,028 patients (89.5%). The remaining 472 patients received a second regimen consisting of a single intramuscular injection of 750 mg of thiamphenicol followed 6 hr later by a single oral dose of 2.5 g; 462 (98%) of these patients recovered. Altogether, the two regimens produced a recovery rate of 99.8%. The drug was well tolerated both gastrointestinally and hematologically; blood tests performed for 2,000 patients showed no hematologic changes.