Clinical experience of tigecycline treatment in infections caused by extensively drug-resistant acinetobacter spp.

Background: Tigecycline has broad spectrum antimicrobial activity and is approved for complicated intra-abdominal infections, complicated skin and soft tissue infections, and community-acquired pneumonia. There are few data on clinical experience of tigecycline in hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) and Acinetobacter spp. infection. Methods: A retrospective study was performed at eight hospitals in Korea from May 2009 to January 2010. Adult patients treated with tigecycline regardless of their source of infection or pathogens were enrolled. Results: Tigecycline was administered in 108 patients. Pneumonia was the most common infection (43.5%), followed by skin and soft tissue infections (20.4%). Acinetobacter baumannii was isolated from 83 patients (76.9%) accounting for 50.3% of isolated pathogens, showing a resistance rate of 67.5% to carbapenems. Superinfection was identified in 32 patients (29.6%). Pseudomonas aeruginosa was most common microorganism causing superinfection (46.9%). Overall 30-day mortality rate was 52.9%. Thirty-day mortality rate of HAP and Acinetobacter spp. infection was 60.5% and 59.4%, respectively. Conclusion: Tigecycline can be considered as an alternative therapy in patients with HAP or infections caused by Acinetobacter spp., especially extensively drug-resistant A. baumannii.