Trovafloxacin is a fluoroquinolone antibacterial agent with a broad spectrum of activity. Trovafloxacin has similar or 2-fold lower activity than ciprofloxacin against Enterobacteriaceae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Against Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis, trovafloxacin has similar activity to ciprofloxacin. Other susceptible Gram-negative pathogens include Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and mycoplasmas. The drug is active against Gram-positive bacteria and consistently displayed greater activity (2- to 8-fold) than ciprofloxacin against all staphylococci and streptococci tested; activity included methicillin-resistant staphylococci and penicillin-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae. Trovafloxacin has some activity against vancomycin-resistant enterococci. Anaerobes such as Bacteroides and Clostridium spp. are also susceptible to trovafloxacin. Preliminary clinical data suggest that trovafloxacin is effective in the treatment of patients with upper and lower respiratory tract and uncomplicated urinary tract infections and infections caused by C. trachomatis or N. gonorrhoeae. The most frequently noted adverse event with trovafloxacin is dizziness which is reported in 11% of patients versus 3% of those receiving comparator agents. Other commonly reported events (> 1% of patients) are nausea, headache, vomiting, vaginitis and diarrhoea.