In-vitro activity of five beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations against consecutive isolates of the Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Susceptibility tests were performed on 2402 of consecutive isolates of Enterobacteriaceae and 254 strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in five separate medical centres. Five beta-lactams were evaluated with and without a beta-lactamase inhibitor. The effect of different inhibitors was species specific and the rank order of decreasing efficacy against all enteric bacilli was: cefoperazone-sulbactam > piperacillin-tazobactam > cefoperazone > ticarcillin-clavulanic acid > piperacillin > co-amoxiclav > ampicillin-sulbactam > ticarcillin > ampicillin > amoxycillin.