Ceftazidime-Avibactam Combination Therapy versus Monotherapy for the Treatment Carbapenem-Resistant Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections: A Retrospective Observational Study

Infect Drug Resist. 2024 Mar 29:17:1281-1289. doi: 10.2147/IDR.S452805. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Purpose: Since the introduction of ceftazidime-avibactam (CZA) in the Chinese market, accumulating clinical evidence has substantiated its efficacy in the treatment of infections caused by carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria (CR-GNB). Nevertheless, an ongoing debate persists concerning the choice between monotherapy and combination therapy when devising clinical anti-infection protocols.

Patients and methods: This retrospective, single-center observational study enrolled patients with CR-GNB infections who received CZA treatment between December 2019 and August 2023. The primary outcome assessed was 30-day mortality, and the secondary outcome measured was 14-day bacterial clearance. A multivariate Cox regression model was used to identify variables that were independently associated with 30-day mortality rate.

Results: Eighty-three patients were enrolled in the study; of which, 45 received CZA monotherapy, whereas 38 received combination therapy. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 31.3%, and no significant difference was observed in the 30-day mortality rates between the CZA combination therapy and monotherapy groups (31.6% vs 31.1%, p=0.963). After adjustment by propensity score matching, the 30-day mortality rate was not significantly different between the two groups (28.6% vs 31.4%, p=0.794). Multivariate COX analysis revealed that age and SOFA score were independent predictors of 30-day mortality.

Conclusion: Combination therapy with CZA and other antimicrobials was not found to have an advantage over monotherapy in reducing the 30-day mortality rate.

Keywords: carbapenem-resistant gram-negative bacteria; ceftazidime-avibactam; combination therapy K. pneumoniae carbapenemase.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Science and Technology Research Project of the Henan Province (LHGJ20230021). The funder had no role in the study design, data collection and interpretation, or decision to submit the work for publication.