Selective Decontamination of the Digestive Tract

Abstract

Letters15 May 1993Selective Decontamination of the Digestive TractFrank R. Cockerill III, MD, Sharon R. Muller, MD, and Rodney L. Thompson, MDFrank R. Cockerill III, MDSearch for more papers by this author, Sharon R. Muller, MDSearch for more papers by this author, and Rodney L. Thompson, MDSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-118-10-199305150-00018 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail IN RESPONSE:We agree that cefotaxime is a systemic antimicrobial that, when administered parenterally, can selectively decontaminate the digestive tract of a large variety of aerobic and facultatively anaerobic organisms with little effect on strict anaerobes [1-4]. Theoretically, cefotaxime may both treat and prevent nosocomial infections in patients until their digestive tracts can be adequately decontaminated of potentially pathogenic microorganisms using the oral nonabsorbable antimicrobics.It is interesting to note that one recent study of antimicrobial prophylaxis in the intensive care setting that did not use a systemic antimicrobial at the beginning of oral decontamination did not show statistically significant ...