Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies

Author	Methods	Participants	Intervention		Primary outcome	Evaluation of re-infection
			Gentamicin	Comparator
Hira et al. (1984) [36]	Quasi-random (treatment assigned to alternate consecutive patients)	Men with uncomplicated gonorrhoea infection (gram-negative diplococci on urethral smear), Lusaka, Zambia	Single-dose gentamicin 280 mg intramuscular injection (n = 302)	Single-dose kanamycin 2 g intramuscular injection (n = 113)	Cure	All patients advised to abstain from sexual activity for 2 weeks after therapy.
					Patients in whom N. gonorrhoea persisted or re-appeared (as determined by a positive result of a smear or culture) in the absence of sexual activity during the follow-up period were considered to be treatment failure	Patients excluded if reported sexual activity during 2 weeks follow-up period with or without persistent or re-appearing gonorrhoea on culture
Iskandar et al. (1978) [33]	RCT (randomly allocated to 3 groups of 30 patients)	Men with acute gonorrhoea infection (gonorrhoea on Gram stain of urethral smears), Egypt	Single-dose gentamicin 240 mg intramuscular injection (n = 30)	Co-trimoxazole (Bactrim, Roche) 8 tablets daily divided into 2 doses for 2 days (n = 30). Trimethoprim-sulphametrol (Lidaprim, Ciba) 8 tablets divided into 2 doses for 2 days (n = 30)	Cure	One case of re-infection reported in which there was a history of re-exposure.
					Cases with negative smears plus resolution of discharge on day 7 were considered cured	Safe sex advice and assessment of re-infection not described
Pareek and Chowdhury (1981) [35]	Non-randomised, comparator study	Men with urethral gonorrhoea infection (culture positive and beta lactamase detected), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia	Single-dose gentamicin 160 mg intramuscular injection (n = 20)	Single-dose spectinomycin 2 g intramuscular injection (n = 20)	Cure	Safe sex advice, definition and assessment of re-infection not described
					Patients in whom culture on days 3, 7 and 14 post treatment were negative were considered cured
Yoon et al. (1988) [34]	RCT (random numbered tickets used to divide patients into 2 groups)	Men with uncomplicated gonococcal urethritis (Gram stain and ‘bacteriological test of urethral secretions’), Seoul, Korea	Single-dose gentamicin 240 mg intramuscular injection (n = 137)	Single-dose kanamycin 2 g intramuscular injection (n = 137)	Cure	All patients advised to avoid sexual intercourse during the period of treatment. Definition and assessment of re-infection not described
					Cases with negative Gram stain and bacteriological test (undefined) of urethral secretions
Lule et al. (1994) [28]	RCT (computerised randomisation)	Men presenting with urethral discharge +/-dysuria and gram-negative intracellular diplococci on urethral smear and/or positive culture, Malawi	Single-dose gentamicin 240 mg intramuscular injection (n = 40)	Amoxicillin 3 gm, probenecid 1 gm, and clavulanate 125 mg by mouth once (n = 60)	To determine the relative contribution of gonorrhoea and chlamydia to urethritis in Malawi	Safe sex advice not described
				Amoxicillin 3 gm, probenecid 1 gm, and clavulanate 125 mg, by mouth once and doxycycline 100 mg BD for 7 days (n = 56)	To evaluate the effectiveness of five antibiotic therapies for urethritis	6/48 (12.5%) patients with persistent gonococcal infection at follow-up reported having sex between initial and follow-up visits compared to 21 of 249 (8.4%) men for whom gonococcal infection was not detected at follow-up (p = 0.4)
				Ciprofloxacin 250 mg by mouth once (n = 59)	Cure not defined. An assessment of symptoms and signs, urethral Gram stain and culture were obtained at 8–10 days post treatment
				Co-trimoxazole (trimethoprim 320 mg/sulphamethoxazole 1,600 mg) by mouth for 2 days (n = 29)

RCT randomised control trial, mg milligrams, g grams, BD twice daily.