title: An assessment of the intramuscular and intravenous administration of mezlocillin in urinary tract infections.
abstract: The efficacy of mezlocillin in urinary tract infections was assessed using both the intramuscular and intravenous route. Patients with comparable diseases were divided into two groups. The microorganisms were sensitive to mezlocillin. Thirty patients were given i. m. doses and 20 i. v. doses. These patients had upper or lower urinary tract infections. The doses were 2 g i. v. or 1 g i. m. every eight hours. Treatment lasted for an average of six days. The MICs for mezlocillin were determined for the strains isolated, all of which were gram-negative organisms, with the exception of nine enterococci. In addition, sensitivity to cephalothin, carbenicillin and gentamicin was determined using the disc diffusion test. The geometric means of the MICs for mezlocillin were 3.85, 2.8 and 1.3 mg/l against Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis and enterococci, respectively. There were no marked differences in activity between the i. m. and i. v. routes on Days 1, 7, 14, 30 and 60 after treatment. There was a short-term cure rate of 79% with mezlocillin, independent of the route of administration; reinfections were observed in 8% of the cases and the infection persisted in 13%. There are no significant differences between our results and those from other studies on mezlocillin and piperacillin. There was no indication of toxicity, nor were there deviations in the haematological and biochemical parameters. One patient had severe pruritus following each i. m. injection; the treatment had to be discontinued.
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D008802:Mezlocillin; D010406:Penicillins / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014552:Urinary Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D010406:Penicillins; D008802:Mezlocillin