Polymyxin Monotherapy vs. Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Shantanu K Patra, Samir Samal, Diganta Mohanty
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: The objective of this review was to compare the effectiveness of Colistin monotherapy and combination therapy for the treatment of multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacterial infections. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Cochrane Library. STUDY ELIGIBILITY INTERVENTIONS AND EXCLUSIONS: In this systematic review, we included all retrospective and prospective studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared intravenous polymyxin monotherapy and combination therapy with any other antibiotic for treating multidrug-resistant infections. Studies using inhaled polymyxins with 5 or less than 5 patients were excluded. The primary outcome was 30-day all-cause mortality and if not reported at day 30 we extracted and documented the closest time point. Both crude outcome rates and adjusted effect estimates were extracted for mortality. STUDY APPRAISAL DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: ) AND (random OR prospective OR retrospective OR cohort OR observational OR blind)." Thirty-nine studies were included in our analysis; out of which 6 RCTs were included and 9 studies used carbapenem as the adjunctive antibiotic. Each study was screened and reviewed for eligibility independently by two authors and data extrapolated on an Excel sheet. RESULTS: studies that used polymyxin combination therapy. CONCLUSION: Although statistically insignificant, it would be prudent to use polymyxin combination therapy to treat multidrug-resistant gram-negative bacilli (GNB) infection over monotherapy with preference to use carbapenem as the adjunct alongside polymyxins. HOW TO CITE THIS ARTICLE: Samal S, Mishra SB, Patra SK, Rath A, Dash A, Nayak B, et al. Polymyxin Monotherapy vs. Combination Therapy for the Treatment of Multidrug-resistant Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(2):199-206.