Intended for healthcare professionals

Research Article

Treatment of tetanus: an open study to compare the efficacy of procaine penicillin and metronidazole.

Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985; 291 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.291.6496.648 (Published 07 September 1985) Cite this as: Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985;291:648
  1. I Ahmadsyah,
  2. A Salim

    Abstract

    A prospective, open, non-randomised clinical trial was carried out to compare the efficacy of procaine penicillin with metronidazole in the treatment of moderate tetanus among 173 patients. Patients in the metronidazole group had a significantly lower mortality rate, a shorter stay in hospital, and an improved response to treatment. These results establish the value of antimicrobial treatment in the management of tetanus and show that metronidazole is more efficacious than penicillin in this respect.