Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.7759/cureus.101938

Publication Title

Cureus

Volume

18

Issue

1

Pages

e101938

Abstract

Cefazolin, a first-generation cephalosporin, is commonly used to treat methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) infections. Although generally well tolerated, coagulation abnormalities have rarely been reported during therapy. We describe the case of an 81-year-old man treated with prolonged cefazolin for MSSA endocarditis who developed severe coagulopathy characterized by marked elevation of both the international normalized ratio (INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT). The abnormalities occurred after initiation of cefazolin and worsened despite cessation of other anticoagulants. Following discontinuation of cefazolin and administration of vitamin K, coagulation parameters rapidly improved and subsequently normalized. This case highlights a rare but clinically significant adverse effect of cefazolin and underscores the importance of close coagulation monitoring during prolonged therapy, particularly in high-risk patient populations.

Rights

© Copyright 2026

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC-BY 4.0) License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Original Publication Citation

Ismail, A., Habib, A., & Blumrick, C. (2026). Cefazolin: A rare etiology of induced coagulopathy. Cureus, 18(1), Article e101938. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.101938

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