Nosocomial infections caused by resistant microorganisms increase the cost of the treatment as well as the death rate and are a serious problem in all health care systems. Tigecycline is a new broad spectrum antibiotic, a member of the class of glycylcyclines, semisynthetic tetracycline derivatives.
It is effective against problematic highly resistant Gram-positive and Gram-negative microorganisms. Only limited experience has been gained with tigecycline and most clinical trials were conducted in patients with complicated skin and soft tissue infections and complicated intraabdominal infections.
Tigecycline is a new alternative antibacterial agent for patients with a history of allergy to beta-lactam antibiotics or in case of toxicity of other available antibiotics.