Evaluation of clindamycin and other antibiotics in the treatment of anaerobic bacterial infections of the lung.

Fifty patients who had pneumonia, lung abscess, or empyema, and whose specimens had a fetid odor, were presumed to be suffering from anerobic lung infection and were treated with clindamycin either orally (33 patients) or parenterally (17). Forty-six patients showed marked improvement or recovered; two also underwent lung resection, and thoracotomy was performed in 10. There were three outright treatment failures, and superinfection occurred in one patient. A review of the literature suggests that clindamycin and penicillin (in substantial dosage) are equally effective in treatment of anaerobic lung infection. Transtracheal aspiration is not deemed necessary if the patient is expectorating fetid sputum.