Spontaneous Achilles tendon rupture in patients treated with levofloxacin
Abstract
Sir, Levofloxacin is recommended for the management of community-acquired pneumonia. As its use increases, it is important that doctors are aware of its relatively uncommon adverse effects. Achilles tendinitis (incidence: 0.1–0.01%) and tendon rupture (incidence: < 0.01%) are well recognized but rare adverse effects of levofloxacin and other fluoroquinolones.1–5 In this paper, we describe four cases illustrating tendinopathy of the Achilles tendon associated with levofloxacin treatment. A 78-year-old female patient with a background of ischaemic heart disease, chronic heart failure and osteoarthritis developed hospital-acquired pneumonia while under investigation for an unrelated problem. She was treated for 5 days with oral levofloxacin 500 mg twice a day. She had not previously received quinolone antibiotics. Three days after stopping the antibiotic, during assessment of the patient’s mobility, both patient and physiotherapist heard a snap and the session had to be ended due to pain in the left leg. She had not reported pain in her legs prior to this incident. An orthopaedic surgeon made a clinical diagnosis of rupture of the left Achilles tendon. A plaster cast was applied and the patient required the aid of a frame and further rehabilitation. The tendon injury delayed discharge from hospital by 3 weeks. A 67-year-old man was admitted with an infectious exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). He was treated with oral prednisolone 40 mg daily and…
Read the paper
Related studies
- Ferulic acid regulates the AKT/GSK-3β/CRMP-2 signaling pathway in a middle cerebral artery occlusion animal model
- Novel Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic Parameters Quantify the Exposure–Effect Relationship of Levofloxacin against Fluoroquinolone-Resistant Escherichia coli
- Photochemical behavior of levofloxacin
- Correlation Between Dissolution Profiles of Salt-Form Drugs in Biorelevant Bicarbonate Buffer and Oral Drug Absorption: Importance of Dose/ Fluid Volume Ratio
- Evaluation of the synergistic potential and mechanisms of action for de novo designed cationic antimicrobial peptides
- Synthesis of [11C]levofloxacin
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.