Route of antibiotics in CF open to debate: Cochrane

Cystic fibrosis

6 Aug 2015

There is no evidence to suggest that any route of antibiotic administration is superior to any other in the treatment of exacerbations in people with CF, concludes a Cochrane review.

“While there is unlikely to be equipoise in the use of antibiotics for pulmonary exacerbations per se, the appropriate route of such antibiotics may be open to enquiry, particularly for those with mild disease,” the research group wrote

The review included 40 studies with 1717 people with cystic fibrosis but many of the studies were poor quality, they said. 

When comparing treatment with a single antibiotic to a combined antibiotic regimen, patients receiving a combination of antibiotics experienced a greater improvement in lung function when considered as a whole group across a number of different measurements of lung function, but with very low quality evidence.

When limited to the four placebo-controlled studies, no difference was observed, again with very low quality evidence. There was no effect upon time to next exacerbation and no studies assessed quality of life.

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