The outcome of single-dose cefuroxime treatment in patients with pharyngeal gonorrhea.

This study of single-dose cefuroxime treatment of pharyngeal gonorrhea included 13 patients from whose throat specimens taken on the day of treatment Neisseria gonorrhoeae was isolated and who returned for follow-up examinations one and two weeks later. The regimen used was cefuroxime (1.5 g im) plus probenecid (1 g orally). The treatment failed in six patients (46%). Failure of treatment was not associated with decreased in vitro susceptibility of the infecting strain to cefuroxime. In pharyngeal gonorrhea the diagnosis by culture and effective control of treatment require repeated sampling for bacteriologic examinations.