Cefuroxime levels attained in tissues and wound exudates from severely ischaemic limbs

Cefuroxime sodium levels have been assayed in the subcutaneous fat of the groin in ten patients undergoing arterial reconstruction and in the subcutaneous fat and skeletal muscle of ten legs amputated for severe arterial ischaemia. Levels of the antibiotic in serum at the time of operation and in wound exudate postoperatively have also been measured. Satisfactory antibacterial concentrations of cefuroxime were found in the following: all samples of serum and groin fat from reconstruction cases, and muscle and fat from the proximal parts of amputated limbs; nine out of ten distal fat and eight out of ten distal muscle samples from amputations; 38 out of 40 samples of wound exudate. These results indicate that this cephalosporin should be considered for broad-spectrum prophylaxis in arterial surgery and for treating soft tissue infections in ischaemic limbs.