SULFONAMIDE DRUGS: A Comparison of Blood Levels Obtained with Their Administration by Different Routes in Children

IN 1942, Jorgensen and Greely¹ demonstrated that sulfadiazine can be administered subcutaneously in a 5 per cent aqueous solution without deleterious local effects. Since then others² have used this method of administration with some variations regarding dosage and interval between injections but, in general, following the plan which has been widely adopted for oral administration of the drug, namely, 50 to 75 mg. per kilogram (⅓ to ½ grain per pound) of body weight as an initial dose, and approximately twice this amount per day divided into three, four or six doses.³ Glaser and Lawrence^2c reported studies of the levels obtained in the blood when the drug was administered by the subcutaneous route. Aside from this study, little attention has been given to the pediatric aspects of subcutaneous administration of sulfonamide drugs. The following report presents the results of a study of blood levels obtained in