Multicenter double-blind study of the efficacy and tolerance of roxithromycin versus erythromycin ethylsuccinate in acute orodental infection in adults. Odontogenic Infections Study Group

Abstract

A total of 194 patients with orodental infection were randomized either to roxithromycin 150 mg twice daily plus placebo or to erythromycin 1 g twice daily plus placebo for a mean duration of 8 days. The infections consisted of cellulitis, pericoronitis, and adenopathy, or any two in combination. In the 176 cases in which efficacy was evaluable, outcome was satisfactory in 94% and 91% of cases treated with roxithromycin and erythromycin, respectively (p = 0.45). Patients were evenly distributed with respect to demographic characteristics, diagnosis, and concomitant treatment. Surgery was performed in 63%, primarily for abscess formation in cellulitis (p less than 0.001); 18% of patients with an abscess did not undergo surgery. The success rate was identical irrespective of whether surgery was performed, including in those with an abscess. Tolerance was evaluated in 1986 patients. Unwanted effects, elicited by direct questioning, were reported in approximately 20% of cases per group (19% for roxithromycin and 21% for erythromycin). They consisted of mild gastrointestinal upsets which caused treatment to be withdrawn in eight cases (four per group). Thus, roxithromycin and erythromycin twice daily for orodental infection are similar in both efficacy and tolerance.