Ciprofloxacin/metronidazole versus β-lactam-based treatment of intra-abdominal infections: a meta-analysis of comparative trials

Intra-abdominal infections are polymicrobial and result in substantial morbidity and mortality. The combination of ciprofloxacin/metronidazole as well as several β-lactam-based regimens are among the commonly used regimens for the treatment of patients with such infections. Thus, we sought to review the evidence from available comparative clinical trials studying ciprofloxacin/metronidazole versus broad-spectrum β-lactam-based regimens in the treatment of intra-abdominal infections. Studies for the meta-analysis were retrieved from searches of the PubMed database. Five available comparative trials (four randomised controlled trials and one non-randomised comparative trial) including 1431 patients with intra-abdominal infections were included in the meta-analysis. There was a statistically significant difference between the compared arms with regard to cure in favour of the ciprofloxacin/metronidazole combination (odds ratio (OR) = 1.69, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.20–2.39). There was no statistically significant difference between the compared arms with regard to total mortality (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 0.71–1.69), mortality attributable to infection (OR = 1.42, 95% CI 0.66–3.06) and toxicity (OR = 1.25, 95% CI 0.66–2.35). In conclusion, pooled data from the available comparative trials suggest that the ciprofloxacin/metronidazole combination may be superior to β-lactam-based therapeutic regimens in the treatment of intra-abdominal infections with regard to cure of infections, although no difference in mortality was found.