Comparison of efficacy and safety of teicoplanin in gram-positive infections: a multicentre study.

A multicentre open trial included 219 hospitalized patients suffering from various Gram-positive infections. Previous antimicrobial therapy had been carried out in 37% of patients. The initial teicoplanin dose was 400 mg for 77.6% and 800 mg for 12.6% of the patients, 9.8% received other initial doses. The dose on subsequent days was 200 mg or less for 63% of patients and 400 mg for the remaining 27%. The mean duration of treatment was 11 days. Concomitant antibiotic treatment was given in 35% of cases. The overall clinical success rate was 86.9%. Therapy failure or recurrence of infection was seen in 5% and 2%, respectively. Elimination of pathogens was seen in 85.1% of all evaluable cases. Adverse drug reactions were observed in 14 patients. From these results, we conclude that teicoplanin is safe and effective in the therapy of many different infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria.