Annals of epidemiology
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Annals of epidemiology · Apr 2014
Peripheral neuropathy and Guillain-Barré syndrome risks associated with exposure to systemic fluoroquinolones: a pharmacovigilance analysis.
Peripheral neuropathy (PN) is an identified risk of systemic antibacterial therapy with fluoroquinolones. The risk and its severity, including the development of Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) between individual agents is uncertain. This study examines the association between fluoroquinolones and PN and GBS in cases spontaneously reported to the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System. ⋯ This study re-emphasizes the link between fluoroquinolones and PN and shows the potential association with more severe forms of nerve damage, for example, GBS. Unless the benefit of fluoroquinolone therapy (e.g., overwhelming infection or development of bacterial resistance) outweighs PN risk, treatment with alternative antibacterial agents is recommended.