Renal function following cardiopulmonary bypass surgery in children: a randomized comparison of the effects of gentamicin and cloxacillin with cephalothin.
Renal function was studied in 36 children who were randomly allocated to receive either gentamicin and cloxacillin or cephalothin as prophylactic antibiotic cover for complex cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Both groups of children developed a similar degree of impairment of glomerular function with significant elevations in plasma creatinine concentrations and urine albumin excretion compared to preoperative levels which tended to resolve by the 5th postoperative day. The urine excretion of N-acetyl-glucosaminidase increased in both groups postoperatively but remained significantly elevated only in those children who had received gentamicin. These findings suggest that whilst gentamicin exerts a demonstrable nephrotoxic effect on the proximal renal tubules it does not contribute significantly to either the incidence or severity of postoperative renal glomerular impairment.