Concentrations of sulbactam/ampicillin in serum and lung tissue.

The penetration of sulbactam plus ampicillin into lung tissue was studied in 15 patients undergoing thoracic surgery for pneumonectomy after the administration of 1 g of sulbactam plus 2 g of ampicillin as a 15 min intravenous short infusion. Ampicillin serum concentrations declined from 40.8 mg/l at 1 h to 18.8 mg/l 2-4 h after administration. Concomitant serum concentrations of sulbactam were 25.5 mg/l and 11.8 mg/l, respectively. In lung tissue, peak ampicillin concentrations of 35.6 mg/kg were reached 1.5 h after administration declining slowly to 26.8 mg/kg after 2-4 h. The respective sulbactam concentrations were 8.6 and 5.5 mg/kg. In our study sufficient sulbactam and ampicillin levels active against important pathogenic organisms causing community- and hospital-acquired respiratory tract infections have been achieved in lung tissue, suggesting that the combination sulbactam/ampicillin is suited for the treatment of most community- and hospital-acquired respiratory tract infections as well as for chemoprophylaxis and treatment of postoperative lung infections after thoracic surgery.