Acute Nonspecific Lung Abscess: A Controlled Study Comparing Orally and Parenterally Administered Penicillin G

¹ Professor of Medicine, Hahnemann Medical College
² Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

A controlled study was undertaken to compare oral and parenteral administration of penicillin G in the treatment of acute nonspecific lung abscess. Eighteen patients received 1.2 million units four times a day by mouth and 18 were given either 500,000 units intramuscularly every eight hours (five cases) or 20 million units per day intravenously for two weeks followed by orally administered penicillin (13 cases). Medication was continued until the process resolved or stabilized on serial roentgenograms. Those treated parenterally and orally were comparable with respect to various background factors. Two patients receiving penicillin orally failed to show a clinical response in six days but then responded to orally administered tetracycline. One patient on intravenously administered penicillin did not respond in six days but was treated successfully with clindamycin by mouth. The rate of defervescence and the rate of cavity disappearance was similar in the two groups.