Thiamphenicol in the prophylaxis and treatment of mixed infections of the female genital tract.

: Surgical procedures involving bacteriologically contaminated sites (e.g., vaginal or abdominal hysterectomy) are frequently followed by local or systemic infections. The efficacy of thiamphenicol against such infections was investigated in two studies: an open clinical study of the treatment of severe, mixed aerobic-anaerobic infections of the female genital tract and a randomized, prospective, controlled trial of short-term perioperative prophylaxis. Thirty-five patients were enrolled in the first study and 750 patients in the second (490 undergoing abdominal hysterectomy and 260 undergoing vaginal hysterectomy). Thiamphenicol appeared to be effective in both trials. When used for prophylaxis, it significantly reduced three postoperative parameters: infectious morbidity, use of antibiotics, and period of hospitalization. When used for treatment, it cured 30 (86%) of 35 postoperative gynecologic infections, including 13 infections that had not responded to previous, empirical antibiotic therapy.