JAMA neurology: use of antibiotics increases the risk of nerve injury

May 17, 2019 / BIOON / Dundee University research shows that a commonly used antibiotic may increase the risk of severe and possibly permanent neurological injury by nearly 50% Peripheral neuropathy has long been considered as a potential side effect of fluoroquinolones, but it is not clear how strong the correlation is, and how it is affected by treatment time, age and gender Source: http://cn.bing.com researchers led by Dr Daniel Morales of the University School of medicine looked at the database of 1.3 million adults who prescribed one or more fluoroquinolones or amoxicillin clavulanic acid antibiotics, but did not diagnose peripheral neuropathy at the beginning of the treatment They found that systemic fluoroquinolones currently used appear to increase the risk of peripheral neuropathy by 47%, resulting in an increase of 2.4 cases per 10000 patients per year People who prescribed amoxicillin clavulanate were not significantly more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy Men are at a higher risk and increase with age and the duration of treatment with fluoroquinolones After six months of fluoroquinolones, it is still possible to diagnose peripheral neuropathy Older men, the group most likely to have the condition after 28 days of fluoroquinolones, are 34, 000 times more likely to have it Although the absolute risk of diagnosing peripheral neuropathy remains low, Dr Morales said the findings should be considered as one of the different potential side effects until antibiotics are prescribed "The safety of fluoroquinolones has attracted a lot of attention because they may have side effects on some artificial growth," he said One of them is peripheral neuropathy, the most common of which is that the nerves of the lower extremities may be affected, leading to numbness, pain or balance problems "Fluoroquinolones are an effective antibiotic, but health care professionals should be aware that there may be peripheral neuropathy after treatment with fluoroquinolones Antibiotic management is essential to ensure the proper use of these valuable drugs We observed that treatment with fluoroquinolones increased the risk of peripheral neuropathy by about 50%, which may persist for up to six months after treatment Interestingly, the observations vary with the length of antibiotic treatment, and our findings suggest that the risk may be different for everyone "When health professionals suspect that drugs cause adverse reactions, they should be encouraged to report these cases to the drug administration Previous case reports have identified peripheral neuropathy as a potential side effect of fluoroquinolones However, further studies to confirm or refute this risk are limited, especially those aimed at quantifying the risk and studying how it might change among different people Reference: Daniel Morales et al Association between peripheral neuron and exposure to oral fluroquinolone or amoxicillin clavulanate therapy, JAMA neuron (2019) Doi: 10.1001/jamanuerol.2019.0887