Effectiveness of ampicillin and combination of penicillin and chloramphenicol in the treatment of pneumonias: randomized controlled trial.
Indian Pediatr
;
1996 Oct; 33(10): 813-6
Article
in English
| IMSEAR
| ID: sea-6780
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
To assess the effectiveness of ampicillin and a combination of benzyl penicillin and chloramphenicol in the treatment of pneumonias.DESIGN:
Randomized controlled trial.SETTING:
Tertiary care hospital.SUBJECTS:
Patients 5 months to 4 years old with pneumonias of < 2 weeks duration. Exclusion criteria included acute bronchiolitis, allergy to penicillin, postmeasles pneumonia or prior administration of trial antibiotics in full dose for more than 2 days. INTERVENTION Patients were randomized to receive either ampicillin (100 mg/kg/day) or combination of benzyl penicillin (100,000 units/kg/day) and chloramphenicol (100 mg/kg/day). The outcome measure was cure rate.RESULTS:
There were 52 and 49 patients in the ampicillin and the combination groups, respectively. There was no significant difference in the baseline characteristics between groups except, nasal flare and cyanosis which were less in benzyl penicillin plus chloramphenicol group. There was also no difference either in the primary outcome, cure rate or secondary outcomes (days for cure, duration of tachypnea, fever and grunt) in the two.CONCLUSION:
Considering the potential toxicity of chloramphenicol and the number of injections and doses to be given for the combination, ampicillin as a single drug could be preferred for the treatment of pneumonias, in this part of the country.
Full text:
Available
Index:
IMSEAR (South-East Asia)
Main subject:
Penicillins
/
Pneumonia
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
/
Child, Preschool
/
Chloramphenicol
/
Treatment Outcome
/
Drug Therapy, Combination
/
Ampicillin
Type of study:
Controlled clinical trial
Language:
English
Journal:
Indian Pediatr
Year:
1996
Type:
Article
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