BACKGROUND/AIMS: The efficacy and safety of pefloxacin plus klindamicin with cefoxitin were studied in patients undergoing hepatobiliary or pancreatic surgery. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Seventy-five patients with biliary tract, hepatic, or pancreatic pathology were randomly allocated in a prospective open study to receive a combination of either i.v or oral pefloxacin (800mg per day) plus klindamicin (2,400mg per day) or an i.v. cefoxitin (4,000mg per day). RESULTS: Twenty patients had to be withdrawn from the trial because of negative baseline culture or because of isolation of bacteria resistant to the study drugs. In the remaining fifty-five patients, the clinical cure rates were excellent in more than ninety five percent and similar for both groups, the bacteriological success rates were 100% in the pefloxacin plus klindamicin group and 89.1% in the cefoxitin group. No patients were withdrawn from the study because of side effects. CONCLUSION: In our study we have shown the excellent results of the antibacterial therapy with pefloxacin and klindamicin of the patients who underwent complicated hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery.

1st Surgical Department Charles University Hospital Prague Czech Republic