Treatment of acute pelvic inflammatory disease with aztreonam, a new monocyclic beta-lactam antibiotic, and clindamycin.

Forty-two patients with acute pelvic inflammatory disease were treated using aztreonam, a monobactam, and clindamycin. Sixty-four percent of protocol patients were culture positive for Neisseria gonorrhoeae, and 26% had positive endometrial cultures for other organisms. Fifty-one percent of patients had ultrasound findings consistent with a pelvic abscess. One patient with a tuboovarian abscess palpable to the umbilicus became afebrile and improved on treatment, but ultimately was treated surgically. All other protocol patients responded rapidly to the aztreonam-clindamycin regime, giving a 97.7% cure rate.