Adverse effects of amoxicillin may be potentially under-reported

the Oncology Nurse Advisor take:

Amoxicillin is a widely used antibiotic in the penicillin group of drugs. It is used to treat bacterial infections in patients with cancer, and may be used as prophylaxis in some patients. In a systematic review, researchers conducted a review of controlled trials to assess potential harms related to amoxicillin use.

The review included a total of 45 trials, featuring a total of 10,519 participants. The researchers found that almost twice as many patients receiving amoxicillin had diarrhea compared with patients receiving placebo, and diarrhea was more than three times more likely among participants receiving amoxicillin-clavulanate. An association between candidiasis and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid use was also observed.

However, the authors acknowledge a limitation to their study. All the trials measured efficacy rather than harm as their primary outcome, and only 25 of the study included information on harms. Therefore, the number of harms reported was lower than expected, which contributed to a conclusion that harms may be under-reported in clinical trials. In a related commentary, clinicians are advised to be wary of the lack of information on potential adverse effects from amoxicillin.