Clinical evaluation of thiamphenicol in treatment of nongonococcal urethritis.

The effect of thiamphenicol on nongonococcal urethritis was compared with that of doxycycline for 122 male patients, 61 of whom were randomly assigned to treatment with thiamphenicol and 61, with doxycycline. Before treatment the urethral discharges showed more than ten polymorphonuclear leukocytes per high-power field, no gram-negative cocci on the smear, and no culture positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Thiamphenicol was given orally in 500-mg doses three times daily (total dose, 1,500 mg per day), and doxycycline was given orally in 100-mg doses three times daily (total dose, 300 mg per day) for seven to 14 days. Thiamphenicol was clinically effective for 86.8% of the men and doxycycline for 86.3%. In the culture-negative group, thiamphenicol was effective in 90% and doxycycline in 92%; there was no statistically significant difference between the two drugs. Of the 122 patients, one (1.6%) in the doxycycline-treated group showed digestive tract disturbance, but this reaction did not require stopping the therapy.