Pediatr Infect Dis J. 1997 Jan;16(1):97-105; discussion 123-6.

prospective, randomized, double blind study

130 patients (ages 5 to 17 years)

i.v. ciprofloxacin 10 mg/kg every 8 h for 7 days followed by oral ciprofloxacin 20 mg/kg every 12 h for a minimum of 3 days or i.v. ceftazidime 50 mg/kg every 8 h plus i.v. tobramycin 3 mg/kg every 8 h for a minimum of 10 days.

Clinical, bacteriologic and safety responses were assessed throughout the study.

All 84 patients (median age, 11 years; range, 5 to 17 years) valid for efficacy in both treatment groups demonstrated clinical improvement. Five patients experienced clinical relapses (3 ciprofloxacin, 2 ceftazidime/tobramycin) by the 2- to 4-week follow-up. Intent-to-treat analysis demonstrated similar clinical findings between the two treatment groups at both the end of therapy and follow-up. Clinical improvement correlated with improvement in pulmonary function studies and the acute clinical scoring system but not with bacteriologic eradication of Pseudomonas. DNA profiles demonstrated that irrespective of colony morphology, usually one clonal strain was associated with each patient's pulmonary exacerbation. Treatment-associated musculoskeletal events occurred with equal frequency (22% vs. 21%) in both study drug groups (n = 129), and arthralgias were within the range of rates for cystic fibrosis arthropathy. None of these events required study drug discontinuation.

Sequential i.v./oral ciprofloxacin monotherapy offers a safe and efficacious alternative to standard parenteral therapy for acute pulmonary exacerbations in pediatric cystic fibrosis patients.

Antibiotic treatment of early pseudomonas aeruginosa

Antibiotics for pulmonary exacerbations

Inhaled antibiotics in cystic fibrosis

MRSA eradication in CF

Prophylactic use of oral antistaphylococcal antibiotic

Scheduled antibiotics every 3-4 months / symptom-based treatment