Naureen Mushtaq, Abdul Sattar Shaikh, Nanik Ram Khatwani, Shazia Mohsin, Muhammad Matloob Alam.
Ceftriaxone versus Ampicillin in the Treatment of Pneumonia in Children.
Infect Dis J Jan ;22(2):556-9.

Objective: To compare the clinical response, adverse effects and cost of ampicillin with ceftriaxone in the treatment of pneumonia in children between 2 months to 5 years of age at a tertiary care hospital in Karachi. Methodology: This cross sectional study was conducted at the pediatric ward of Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi over a period of 6 months, between January to June, 2010. We enrolled a total of 150 patients with clinical or radiological diagnosis of pneumonia as per the definition of World Health Organization. They were divided into two groups on the bases of the treatment received. Group A received intravenous ampicillin while in group B ceftriaxone was given. The clinical response (absence of fever, and return of respiratory rate to baseline and absence of retractions.), adverse effects and cost of both drugs were evaluated. Results: There were 150 patients with the diagnosis of pneumonia in the study. Group A comprised of 64 (42.7%) children while there were 86 (57.3%) children in group B. The clinical response (97% vs. 95%; p=0.99), mean length of hospital stay (5.5±1 vs. 5.6±1.5 days; p=0.556) and adverse effects (6.3 % vs. 3.5%; p=0.46) were comparable in both the groups. However, there was a statistically significant difference in daily cost of drugs (114.6±13.2 vs. 391.5±19.4 PKR; p=<0.001) and total cost of drugs (829.8±81.7 vs. 2413.3±291.8 PKR; p= <0.001) irrespective of other in-hospital charges between the two groups. Conclusion: There was no statistical difference in clinical response, length of hospital stay and adverse effects in both drugs; however, ampicillin was cheaper than ceftriaxone. Therefore, ampicillin should be the drug of choice in childhood pneumonia to reduce the overall cost of the treatment in a hospital setting.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com