High failure rates in outpatient treatment of salpingitis with either tetracycline alone or penicillin/ampicillin combination

• Published in: American journal of obstetrics and gynecology Vol. 152; no. 6 Pt 1; p. 635
• Main Authors: Thompson, S E, Brooks, C, Eschenbach, D A, Spence, M R, Cheng, S, Sweet, R, McCormack, W M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 15.07.1985
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Ambulatory Care; Ampicillin - administration & dosage; Ampicillin - therapeutic use; Child; Clinical Trials as Topic; Drug Administration Schedule; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Gonorrhea - drug therapy; Humans; Middle Aged; Penicillin G - therapeutic use; Penicillin G Procaine - administration & dosage; Penicillin G Procaine - therapeutic use; Random Allocation; Salpingitis - drug therapy; Salpingitis - etiology; Tetracycline - therapeutic use; Time Factors; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0002-9378
• DOI: 10.1016/S0002-9378(85)80036-3

Eight hundred twenty-five ambulatory women with a clinical diagnosis of salpingitis were randomized to a 10-day course of either penicillin/ampicillin or tetracycline. Forty-four percent of women had gonococcal salpingitis and 56% nongonococcal salpingitis. Overall, both regimens cured equal proportions of women: At 30 days, 81% were cured by penicillin/ampicillin and 82% by tetracycline. However, the proportion of women with gonococcal salpingitis cured by 30 days was significantly greater than that of women with nongonococcal salpingitis. By 30 days, 14% of women with gonococcal salpingitis and 21% of women with nongonococcal salpingitis were not cured by either regimen. These data suggest that both regimens were only marginally acceptable for women with gonococcal salpingitis and that neither regimen was acceptable for nongonococcal salpingitis.