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Efficacy of azithromycin administration in prevention of respiratory tract infection after bronchoscopic biopsy: A randomized, controlled trial
Author(s) -
KANAZAWA Hiroshi
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
respirology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.857
H-Index - 85
eISSN - 1440-1843
pISSN - 1323-7799
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1843.2006.00973.x
Subject(s) - medicine , azithromycin , respiratory tract , randomized controlled trial , bronchoscopy , biopsy , respiratory system , surgery , antibiotics , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
Background and objective: Respiratory tract infection is a serious complication associated with bronchoscopic biopsy. This study attempted to examine its incidence and determine an efficacious therapy for preventing such infections. Methods: Nine hundred and thirty patients who underwent bronchoscopic biopsy in Osaka City University Hospital outpatient clinic were enrolled in the study. All patients were randomly assigned to receive a 3‐day course of azithromycin (500 mg/day), cefcapene pivoxil hydrochloride (300 mg/day) or no antibiotics. The primary outcome was the incidence of respiratory tract infection after bronchoscopic biopsy among the three groups. Results: In the no‐treatment group, nine of the 310 patients (2.9%) had respiratory tract infection after bronchoscopic biopsy. All patients with infection had abnormal bronchoscopic findings. Of the patients with respiratory tract infection, 60% were in the no‐treatment group, 26.7% in the cefcapene group and 13.3% in the azithromycin group. Although not statistically significant, the incidence in the azithromycin group (0.7%) was lower than in the no‐treatment group ( P = 0.06). Among the patients with abnormal bronchoscopic findings, the incidence in the azithromycin group was significantly lower than that in the no‐treatment group (3.0% vs. 14.8%; P = 0.02). Moreover, maximum C‐reactive protein values also appeared to be lower in the azithromycin group than in the no‐treatment group and the cefcapene group. Conclusions: A 3‐day course of azithromycin administration is well tolerated and effective in preventing infection post bronchoscopy.