A clinical trial using co-trimoxazole in an attempt to reduce wound infection rates in dog bite wounds

One hundred and thirteen patients were entered into a randomized, prospective double-blind, placebo controlled trial to assess the use of co-trimoxazole in reducing wound infections after dog bites. Although there was a reduction in the wound infection rate from 13.8% in the placebo group to 5.5% in the treatment group this did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.135). If hand wounds are considered separately, no infections occurred in the treatment group and a benefit seems likely.