Affiliation:
1. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio,
Abstract
Inadequate initial antimicrobial treatment in serious infections leads to increased mortality. Achieving adequate treatment is increasingly difficult because of the increasing prevalence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens. The carbapenems are potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics that have been shown to be safe and efficacious therapies in the treatment of serious infections. This review is intended to compare the 4 major members of the carbapenem class, which include imipenem, meropenem, ertapenem, and doripenem, with other widely used antimicrobial agents in the intensive care unit (ICU). The carbapenems are potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics that have been shown to be safe and efficacious therapies in the treatment of serious infections. They provide better gram-negative coverage than other β-lactams and are stable against extended-spectrum β-lactamases and AmpC β-lactamases, making them effective in the treatment of many MDR bacteria. The newly approved carbapenem, doripenem, may help preserve the utility of the carbapenem class.
Subject
Critical Care and Intensive Care Medicine
Cited by
45 articles.
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