van der Linden et al studied risk factors for developing an Achilles tendon disorder in patients receiving a fluoroquinolone antibiotic. They did a case control study of patients in a large British general practice.
Overall risk for occurrence: rare (3.2 cases per 1,000 patient years)
Risk factors:
(1) current exposure to fluoroquinolone antibiotic
(2) age >= 60 years
(3) concomitant use of corticosteroids
where:
• "Current user" indicates currently taking, or stopping therapy within the past 30 days.
The adjusted risk for any Achilles tendon disorder for a current flurooquinolone user >= 60 years of age was 3.2 (95% confidence interval 2.1 to 4.9).
Another antibiotic should be considered in a patient >= 60 concurrently taking corticosteroids.
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