title: Ertapenem versus ceftriaxone and metronidazole as treatment for complicated intra-abdominal infections.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Prompt surgical intervention supplemented by appropriate antimicrobial therapy is usually required for successful treatment of complicated intra-abdominal infections. The objective of this study was to further evaluate the efficacy and safety of ertapenem relative to ceftriaxone/metronidazole as treatment for complicated intra-abdominal infections.
  
  
  METHODS
  Adult patients with intra-abdominal infections requiring surgery were eligible for this open-label randomized trial comparing ertapenem 1 g daily with ceftriaxone 2 g daily plus metronidazole 30 mg/kg/day. The primary efficacy outcome was the clinical response rate in clinically and microbiologically evaluable participants at the test-of-cure (TOC) visit 2 weeks after discontinuation of therapy. All treated patients were included in the safety analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Participant demographics, disease characteristics, and duration of therapy in both treatment groups were generally similar. Escherichia coli was the most commonly isolated baseline pathogen, recovered in 52% of cases in each treatment group. Favorable clinical responses were achieved at TOC in 143 (96.6%) of 148 ertapenem recipients and in 146 (96.7%) of 151 ceftriaxone/metronidazole recipients. The frequencies of drug-related adverse events, most commonly nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and elevated platelet count, were generally comparable in both treatment arms. Four ertapenem recipients (1.8%) and one ceftriaxone/metronidazole recipient (0.4%) experienced serious drug-related adverse events.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, ertapenem and ceftriaxone/metronidazole were comparably effective treatments for adult patients with complicated intra-abdominal infections.
authors.affiliation: Jose Reyes Memorial Hospital, Manila, Philippines.
authors.forename: Narcisco S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Navarro
authors.forename: Maria I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Campos
authors.forename: Ramon
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Alvarado
authors.forename: Nora
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Quintero
authors.forename: Frank J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Branicki
authors.forename: Junmin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: Malathi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shivaprakash
authors.forename: France
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Vrijens
authors.forename: Hilde
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Giezek
authors.forename: Christina Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: DiNubile