Antibiotics to Prevent Preterm Birth: Long-Term Benefits and Risks

Follow-up data offer reassurance about the long-term benefit and safety of erythromycin in women with premature membrane rupture.

Preterm birth generally is preceded by preterm rupture of the amniotic membranes (PROM) or spontaneous preterm labor with intact membranes (SPL). Intrauterine infection is common in PROM and can underlie SPL in some cases.

In the randomized ORACLE I trial (JW Womens Health May 14 2001), published in 2001, women with PROM received oral erythromycin, oral amoxicillin/clavulanate, both, or placebo for as long as 10 days. Singleton neonates of erythromycin recipients were significantly less likely to reach the primary composite outcome of death, cerebral abnormality, or neonatal lung disease than were infants of erythromycin nonrecipients. Rates of the primary outcome were similar among offspring of women who did or did not receive amoxicillin/c…

Reviewing Author

Bruce Soloway, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNew RoAR News (http://www.newroarnews.org)

Bruce Soloway, MD

Disclosures

Editorial BoardsNew RoAR News (http://www.newroarnews.org)

Antibiotics to Prevent Preterm Birth: Long-Term Benefits and Risks

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Reviewing Author