Ho-Kwong Li, Ines Rombach, Rhea Zambellas, A Sarah Walker, Martin A McNally, Bridget L Atkins, Benjamin A Lipsky, Harriet C Hughes, Deepa Bose, Michelle Kümin, Claire Scarborough, Philippa C Matthews, Andrew J Brent, Jose Lomas, Roger Gundle, Mark Rogers, Adrian Taylor, Brian Angus, Ivor Byren, Anthony R Berendt, Simon Warren, Fiona E Fitzgerald, Damien J F Mack, Susan Hopkins, Jonathan Folb, Helen E Reynolds, Elinor Moore, Jocelyn Marshall, Neil Jenkins, Christopher E Moran, Andrew F Woodhouse, Samantha Stafford, R Andrew Seaton, Claire Vallance, Carolyn J Hemsley, Karen Bisnauthsing, Jonathan A T Sandoe, Ila Aggarwal, Simon C Ellis, Deborah J Bunn, Rebecca K Sutherland, Gavin Barlow, Cushla Cooper, Claudia Geue, Nicola McMeekin, Andrew H Briggs, Parham Sendi, Elham Khatamzas, Tri Wangrangsimakul, T H Nicholas Wong, Lucinda K Barrett, Abtin Alvand, C Fraser Old, Jennifer Bostock, John Paul, Graham Cooke, Guy E Thwaites, Philip Bejon, Matthew Scarborough
BACKGROUND: The management of complex orthopedic infections usually includes a prolonged course of intravenous antibiotic agents. We investigated whether oral antibiotic therapy is noninferior to intravenous antibiotic therapy for this indication. METHODS: We enrolled adults who were being treated for bone or joint infection at 26 U.K. centers. Within 7 days after surgery (or, if the infection was being managed without surgery, within 7 days after the start of antibiotic treatment), participants were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous or oral antibiotics to complete the first 6 weeks of therapy...
January 31, 2019: New England Journal of Medicine