Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection with Pivampicillin: A New Ampicillin Derivative

Abstract

Ampicillin and pivampicillin were compared in a crossover study on 10 volunteers. A clinical trial was carried out in 102 patients (65 patients referred from general practice and 37 patients who acquired urinary tract infection in hospital). Significantly better blood and urinary levels were obtained with pivampicillin than with ampicillin. Pivampicillin was shown to be an effective antibiotic, but the cure rate in the hospital patients was very similar to that achieved with ampicillin. In the general practice group, pivampicillin cured a greater number of patients, although the difference was not statistically significant. No toxic effects were found. Pivampicillin did not seem as well tolerated as ampicillin. Plvampicillin tended to cause upper gastrointestinal intolerance, while diarrhoea was seen more commonly with ampicillin.