Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2025 Apr 4:18:1721-1727.
doi: 10.2147/IDR.S495491. eCollection 2025.

Successful Treatment of Extensively Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Intracranial Infection with Meropenem and Cefoperazone Sodium Sulbactam: A Case Report

Wenke Ma  1 , Chao Zhang  1 , Bei He  1 , Xinwen Lv  1 , Peng Luo  2
Affiliations
Case Reports

Successful Treatment of Extensively Drug-Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii Intracranial Infection with Meropenem and Cefoperazone Sodium Sulbactam: A Case Report

Wenke Ma et al. Infect Drug Resist. .

Abstract

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii intracranial infections, especially those caused by multidrug-resistant (MDR) or extensively drug-resistant (XDR) strains, have posed an increasing challenge to treatment because of poor drug permeability through the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and increased bacterial drug resistance. Therefore, we aimed to explore a therapeutic schedule for Acinetobacter baumannii intracranial infection.

Case presentation: We reported a case of intracranial infection caused by XDR A. baumannii after severe traumatic brain injury, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) rhinorrhea, and severe pneumonia that was successfully treated with meropenem and cefoperazone sodium sulbactam.

Conclusion: This case illustrated that meropenem combined with cefoperazone sodium sulbactam could still be a therapeutic option against intracranial XDR A. baumannii infection.

Keywords: Acinetobacter baumannii; cefoperazone sodium sulbactam; extensively drug-resistant; intracranial infection; meropenem.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Brain and chest CT images. (A) Multiple brain contusions, skull fracture and pneumocephalus can be seen on admission; (B) Significant exudation was seen in the lower lobe of both lungs on admission.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Brain and chest CT images. (A) On November 19, brain contusions were better than before, and the intracranial gas had been absorbed; (B) Increased bilateral lung exudation with consolidation on November 19.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Brain and chest CT images. (A) On November 29, brain CT indicated absorbed hematoma and reduced cerebral edema; (B) Pulmonary exudation and consolidation were significantly improved on November 26.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Kim BN, Peleg AY, Lodise TP. et al. Management of meningitis due to antibiotic-resistant Acinetobacter species. Lancet Infect Dis. 2009;9(4):245–255. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(09)70055-6 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Karaiskos I, Galani L, Baziaka F, et al. Intraventricular and intrathecal colistin as the last therapeutic resort for the treatment of multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii ventriculitis and meningitis: a literature review. Int J Antimicrob Agents. 2013;41(6):499–508. doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2013.02.006 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hu F, Guo Y, Yang Y, et al. Resistance reported from China antimicrobial surveillance network (CHINET) in 2018. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis. 2019;38(12):2275–2281. doi:10.1007/s10096-019-03673-1 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zilberberg MD, Kollef MH, Shorr AF. Secular trends in Acinetobacter baumannii resistance in respiratory and blood stream specimens in the United States, 2003 to 2012: a survey study. J Hosp Med. 2016;11(1):21–26. doi:10.1002/jhm.2477 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Turk Dagi H, Kus H, Arslan U, et al. Karbapeneme dirençli Acinetobacter baumannii izolatlarına karşı sulbaktam ile imipenem, meropenem ve sefoperazon kombinasyonlarının in vitro sinerjistik aktivitesi [In vitro synergistic activity of sulbactam in combination with imipenem, meropenem and cefoperazone against carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates]. Mikrobiyol Bul. 2014;48(2):311–315. doi:10.5578/mb.7104 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources