Rational antibiotic therapy and the position of ampicillin/sulbactam.
In the current context of increasing antimicrobial resistance, it is important to use antibiotics rationally and to re-assess regularly the clinical usefulness of commonly used agents. This review focuses on the efficacy of the beta-lactam ampicillin co-administered with the beta-lactamase inhibitor sulbactam, either parenterally (ampicillin/sulbactam) or orally (sultamicillin), for the treatment of bacterial infections. Clinical findings from the past decade confirm the results of numerous older studies and together provide good evidence to support the continued use of ampicillin/sulbactam and sultamicillin in hospital- and community-acquired infections both in adults and children. This is also recognised in recent published national and international guidelines, many of which recommend ampicillin/sulbactam as first-line therapy for various respiratory and skin infections.
Research Centre for Medical Studies, Institute of Clinical Pharmacology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Hohenzollerndamm 2, Berlin, Germany. haloheck@zedat.fu-berlin.de
Hartmut M
HM
Lode
D000667:Ampicillin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D013407:Sulbactam / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; C035444:sultamicillin; D000667:Ampicillin; D013407:Sulbactam