Annals of surgery
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Ertapenem versus piperacillin/tazobactam in the treatment of complicated intraabdominal infections: results of a double-blind, randomized comparative phase III trial.
To examine the clinical efficacy and safety of ertapenem, a novel beta-lactam agent with wide activity against common pathogens encountered in intraabdominal infection. ⋯ In this study, the efficacy of ertapenem 1 g once a day was equivalent to piperacillin/tazobactam 3.375 g every 6 hours in the treatment of a range of intraabdominal infections. Ertapenem was generally well tolerated and had a similar safety and tolerability profile to piperacillin/tazobactam. A formal process for review of adequacy of source control was found to be of benefit. The results of this trial suggest that ertapenem may be a useful option that could eliminate the need for combination and/or multidosed antibiotic regimens for the empiric treatment of intraabdominal infections.