Comparison of gentamicin and polymyxin B-kanamycin in therapy of bacteremia due to gram-negative bacilli.

Abstract

Seventy-five patients with a presumptive diagnosis of bacteremia due to gramnegative bacilli were treated, by random selection, with either gentamicin alone or a combination of kanamycin and polymyxin B. Most of the infections originated in the urinary tract, and patients within each therapeutic group were shown to be comparable. Rates of survival were similar: 85.4% in the group treated with gentamicin, and 82.3% in the group treated with kanamycin-polymyxin B. It was