Thursday, September 21, 2023 (HealthDay News) — Outpatient acute sinusitis treated with amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, according to a study published in HealthDay News on September 21, 2023 There was no difference in the risk of treatment failure with amoxicillin in children. Issue 19 Journal of the American Medical Association.
Timothy J. Savage, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues compared amoxicillin-clavulanate with amoxicillin in the treatment of acute sinusitis in outpatient children. The analysis included 198,942 propensity-matched patients (age 17 years and younger).
The researchers observed no difference in the risk of treatment failure between the amoxicillin-clavulanic acid group and the amoxicillin group (relative risk (RR), 0.98; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.92 to 1.05). However, amoxicillin-clavulanate was associated with a higher risk of gastrointestinal symptoms (RR, 1.15; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.25) and yeast infections (RR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.16 to 1.54). The risk of amoxicillin-clavulanic acid failure varied by age (0 to 5 years: RR, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.86 to 1.12; 6 to 11 years: RR, 1.06; 95% CI, 0.92 to 1.21; 12 to 11 years: RR, 0.92 to 1.21; 17 years: RR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.79 to 0.95). The risk of amoxicillin-clavulanate adverse events decreased with age (0 to 5 years: RR, 1.23; 95% CI, 1.10 to 1.37; 6 to 11 years: RR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.04 to 1.35; 12 to 11 years: RR, 1.04 to 1.35; 17 years: RR, 1.04; 95% CI, 0.95 to 1.14).
“These findings may help inform decisions about empiric antibiotic selection in acute sinusitis,” the authors wrote.