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 Vol. 8 No. 3, September 2002
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AAP Grand Rounds 8:27-28 (2002)
© 2002 American Academy of Pediatrics

INFECTIOUS DISEASES

Do Fluoroquinolones Cause Joint Disorders in Children?

Source: Yee CL, Duffy C, Gerbino PG, et al. Tendon or joint disorders in children after treatment with fluoroquinolones or azithromycin. Pediatr Infect Dis J. 2002;21:525–529.[Medline]

The first 20% of the full text of this article appears below.

The observation of cartilage damage in juvenile animals exposed to quinolones has raised concerns regarding the potential of fluoroquinolones (FQs) to cause these problems in children. Investigators from Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical Research and Development reviewed linked medical claims data and pharmacy claims data for prescriptions from the United HealthCare Research Data to determine the incidence and relative risk of tendon or joint disorders (TJDs) in children after treatment with 3 FQs: ciprofloxacin (CPX), ofloxacin (OFX) and levofloxacin (LFX) (L-isomer of ofloxacin). Azithromycin (AZ) was used as a comparison since it has not been associated with TJDs and the incidence of TJDs in this group was assumed to be the same as the background incidence. The database used included information on >13 million members from 13 health plans in the United States.

All pharmacy claims between January 1, 1992 and June 30, 1998 were extracted from the database. The index date was the earliest date for a prescription fill during the study period. Subjects had to be <19 years of age at the index date and must have had continuous enrollment in the health plan 30 days pre and 60 days post . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Mobeen H. Rathore, MD, FAAP*
Pediatric Infectious Diseases and Immunology, University of Florida Health Science Center, Jacksonville, FL