Between January and April 1984, 229 of 448 male patients with
urethritis at the Choong-Ku
Venereal Disease Clinic in Seoul had positive urethral cultures: 66 for
penicillinase-producing Neisseria gonorrhoeae (PPNG) and 163 for non-
penicillinase-producing N. gonorrhoeae (non-PPNG). Forty-five men with PPNG
urethritis were enrolled in a study of the efficacy of treatment with
sulbactam/
ampicillin plus
probenecid. Diagnosis and evaluation of cure were based on culture results. The
agar-plate dilution method was used for susceptibility testing, and the chromogenic
cephalosporin test was used for detection of
beta-lactamases. MICs of various
antibiotics for the isolates were high. MICs of
sulbactam/
ampicillin were 0.25-4 micrograms/ml, with an MIC90 of 4 micrograms/ml, a value 16-fold lower than that for
ampicillin alone (MIC90 greater than 32 micrograms/ml). Patients were treated with 1 g of
probenecid orally and either one vial of
sodium sulbactam/
ampicillin or two vials intramuscularly. Each vial contained 0.5 g of
sodium sulbactam and 1 g of
sodium ampicillin. Patients were followed up for three to five days. All patients but one were cured, and no remarkable adverse reactions were noted. The two regimens of
sulbactam/
ampicillin were equally effective in the treatment of uncomplicated PPNG in men.