Clinical Trial of Imipenem/Cilastatin in Severely Burned and Infected Patients
Abstract
Infection remains the most common cause of morbidity and mortality is severely burned patients. Such an infection is a manifestation of injury related immunosuppression and failure of treatment often resulting from the development of microbial resistance. Opportunistic organisms causing infections in burned patients are frequently hospital acquired and may be resistant to multiple antibiotics. The combination of host susceptibility and the possible presence of resistant organisms make the infected burn patient a chemotherapeutic challenge. The continuing accumulation of antibiotic resistant organisms in the clinical environment mandates evaluation of the effectiveness and a safety of newly developed antibiotics. We have examined the effectiveness of imipenem/ cilastatin, a novel thienamycin antibiotic, in a group of patients with burns and serious infections. This antibiotic, the first representative of a new class of beta-lactam antibiotics, the carbapenems, has a wide range of activity against most clinically important gram-positive and gram-negative human pathogens. Imipenem/cilastatin appears to be an antimicrobial of low toxicity that is clinically effective in the treatment of infections in seriously burned patients. Keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Haemophilus parainfluenzae; therapy; Resistance(Biology); Reprints.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1987
- Accession Number
- ADA187736
Entities
People
- Albert T. Mcmanus
- Arthur D. Mason Jr.
- Gary R. Culbertson
- Patrick A. Conarro
- William F. McManus
Organizations
- United States Army Institute of Surgical Research