Suggest Cephalexin Dosage For Bacterial Infection In Artificial Hip

Posted on Sat, 24 May 2014

Question: My mom developed a bacterial infection in her 7 year old artificial hip. They were able to drain the pus out and after one year shes doing well. My question is shes on cephalexin 500mg tid the doctor said after awhile she could just be on maintenance dose, but never told us what is a maintenance dose, unfortunately the doctor moved away and mom dosent have alot of money to continue on tid with the antibiotic Would 500mg daily be enough prophalactly

Answered by Dr. Albana Sejdini (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Should be ok....

Detailed Answer:
Hi there,

I have gone through the medical history of your mom and feel sorry for the situation she is in.

The maintenance dosage is depending on the type of infection and its severity. I usually prescribe 500 mg/daily for 2 more weeks, other times, I have prescribed until 1 g/daily. However, once again, it depends on the type of infection and how well it is responding to the medications as bacterial resistance should also be taken into account.

Please bare in mind that your mom cannot take Keflex for life. I understand the money issue, however, she must consult with an orthopedist. If her doctor is not in, you can contact another person-in-charge.

Hope it was of help! Let me know if you have further queries!
Dr.Albana

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar