Successful treatment of late-onset infection due to resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae in an extremely low birth weight infant using ciprofloxacin.

OBJECTIVE:This paper presents a case in which an extremely low birth weight infant with multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae infection was successfully treated with ciprofloxacin and gentamicin. STUDY DESIGN:A clinical case report of a neonate who received broad spectrum antibiotics for possible infection despite negative cultures. The infant developed sepsis and meningitis resulting from multidrug-resistant K. pneumoniae, which was treated with ciprofloxacin and gentamicin. The literature for the use of ciprofloxacin in pediatric patients was reviewed. RESULTS:The infant responded to the antibiotic regimen with sterilization of blood and cerebrospinal fluid; no adverse effects were attributable to the ciprofloxacin. Although ciprofloxacin has been found to cause irreversible injury to cartilage in juvenile laboratory animals, a review of the literature found that this complication occurs rarely if at all in pediatric patients. Ciprofloxacin has been found to be effective in the treatment of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative infections in pediatric patients, including premature infants. CONCLUSION:Ciprofloxacin should be considered in the treatment of neonatal infection caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms. Although the published experience with this drug suggests that it is effective and that significant toxicity is not common, its use should be restricted to the treatment of serious infections for which an alternative antibiotics is not available.