Rev Esp Quimioter 2010:23(1):27-35

Linezolid more efficacious than vancomycin to eradicate infecting organism in critically ill patients with Gram-positive infections

J. M. SIRVENT, L. PIÑEIRO, M. DE LA TORRE, M. MOTJÉ, J. DE BATLLE, A. BONET

 

Objetive: A prospective and observational study has been conducted to analyze the efficacious of linezolid compared to vancomycin to eradicate the infecting organism in critically ill patients with Gram-positive infections.
Patients and Methods: Prospective, observational and non-controlled study in a medical-surgical intensive care unit (ICU) in a university hospital. A total number of 53 critically ill patients with therapy to proven Grampositive bacterial infection were studied. Infected patients were diagnosed and treated according to international guidelines, following standard protocol for the critically ill infected patients. Microbiologic eradication of the infecting organism at the seventh day of treatment and patients’ clinical outcome were analysed.
Results: Twenty-seventh patients received linezolid and twenty-six received vancomycin. Infection-site diagnoses were: hospital-acquired pneumonia (21 cases: 39.6%), complicated surgical-site infection (19 cases: 35.8%) and catheter-related bacteraemia (13 cases: 24.5%).The most important isolated microorganism was methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (28 cases:52.8%). Clinical success was 20/27 (74.1%) in the linezolid group and 16/26 (61.5 %) in the vancomycin group, with p= 0.3. The adjusted logistic regression model demonstrated that the treatment with linezolid is associated to microbiologic eradication of the infecting organism at the seventh day of treatment [OR = 7.88 (95% CI 1.86-33.52)] and p = 0.005. In this model, the length of hospital stay was lower in the group with microbiologic eradication at the seventh day (p = 0.015). Drug-related adverse events were comparable in both groups of treatment.
Conclusion: Treatment with linezolid in critically ill patients with Gram-positive infections was equivalent to vancomycin in terms of efficacy and safety, but linezolid was associated to a higher rate of microbiologic eradication of the infecting organism at the seventh day of treatment.

 
Rev Esp Quimioter 2010:23(1):27-35 [pdf]