Propensity-matched analysis to compare the therapeutic efficacies of cefuroxime versus cefotaxime as initial antimicrobial therapy for community-onset complicated nonobstructive acute pyelonephritis due to Enterobacteriaceae infection in women.

This study was performed to compare the therapeutic efficacy of cefuroxime with that of cefotaxime as initial antimicrobial therapies in women with complicated nonobstructive acute pyelonephritis (APN) caused by Enterobacteriaceae infections. The clinical characteristics and outcomes of a cefuroxime-treated group (n = 156) were compared with those of a cefotaxime-treated group (n = 166). Of these 322 women, 90 from each group were matched by propensity scores. The defervescence rates were not significantly different in the cefuroxime and cefotaxime groups at 72 h after the start of antimicrobial therapy (81.1% versus 78.9%, P = 0.709). The clinical and microbiological cure rates during the follow-up visits that were 4 to 14 days after the end of the antimicrobial therapies were not significantly different in the cefuroxime versus cefotaxime groups, which were 97.8% (87/89) versus 97.8% (87/89) (P > 0.999) and 89.5% (68/76) versus 90.7% (68/75) (P = 0.807), respectively. The median hospital stay duration and the median times to defervescence in the cefuroxime versus cefotaxime groups were 8 days (interquartile range [IQR], 7 to 10 days) versus 9 days (IQR, 7 to 11 days), respectively, and 55 h (IQR, 37 to 70 h) versus 55 h (IQR, 35 to 69 h), respectively. Bacteremia, extended-spectrum-β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, C-reactive protein levels of ≥ 15 mg/dl, and white blood cell counts of ≥ 15,000/mm(3) of blood had independent effects on the rates of early clinical failure. Our data suggest that the effects of cefuroxime are not different from those of cefotaxime when they are used as an initial antimicrobial treatments for community-onset complicated nonobstructive APN in women.