Sixty-seven patients were treated with
moxalactam in a noncomparative trial of hospitalized patients; 32 had
endometritis or
chorioamnionitis, 12 had skin and
soft tissue infections, 5 had
osteomyelitis, 5 had
pneumonia, 5 had
urinary tract infections, 4 had
arthritis, 2 had
sepsis from an unknown source, 1 had
endocarditis, and 1 had
peritonitis.
Bacteremia was present in 12 of these patients. Patients were given 3 to 12 g of
moxalactam per day (mean, 6.24 g/day) in divided doses every 6 to 8 h. Seven patients were given intramuscular treatment for 3 to 20 days for part or all of their
therapy. The rest were given intravenous treatment exclusively. Treatment was continued for 2 to 42 days (mean, 10 days). The dose and the
duration of therapy were determined by the type of
infection and the response of each patient. There were four treatment failures and one enterococcal-clostridial
superinfection.
Moxalactam was well tolerated.
Allergic reactions led to the discontinuation of the
antibiotic in three patients. Prolonged
prothrombin and partial
thromboplastin times were observed in 2 of 11 patients tested; in both instances in patients had severe underlying diseases, including
malnutrition and
alcoholism.
Pain on
intramuscular injection was noted in two patients receiving 1,500 mg, but not in five receiving a lower dose; in one case the
pain forced the use of intravenous
therapy after one dose, and in the other case the
pain was mild and the patient was treated for 20 days. We concluded that
moxalactam was effective in the treatment of the types of
infections included in this study and produced few adverse reactions.