Incidence of Acute Kidney Injury in Critically Ill Patients Receiving Vancomycin With Concomitant Piperacillin-Tazobactam Versus Other Beta-Lactams: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

: To explore whether vancomycin (VAN) plus piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ) was associated with an increased risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) compared with VAN plus other beta-lactams (BLs) or monotherapy in critically ill patients, where the evidence remains controversial. PubMed, Cochrane, Web of Science, and Embase were searched from inception to June 2024. Studies comparing the risk of AKI with one group receiving VAN+PTZ, and other groups receiving VAN plus other BLs, or monotherapy in critically ill. This analysis included 20 articles with 28 243 participants. The majority of included studies were retrospective (95%, 19/20) and had moderate risks of bias (80.0%, 16/20). The results indicated VAN+PTZ was associated with a significantly higher risk of AKI compared with VAN plus other BLs (OR = 1.66, 95% CI = 1.42-1.94, < 0.001). Subgroup analyses showed that compared with adults, children were associated with a higher risk of AKI when receiving VAN+PTZ (OR = 3.16 vs 1.59). Also, VAN+PTZ was associated with a significantly higher risk of severe stage 2 to 3 AKI than VAN plus other BLs (OR = 1.63, 95% CI = 1.28-2.06, < 0.001). No significant difference was identified in mortality, dialysis, time to AKI, and length of stay between patients receiving VAN plus PTZ and other combinations. : In critically ill, VAN plus PTZ was associated with an increased risk of AKI and severe stage 2 to 3 AKI compared with VAN plus other BLs, especially in children. However, more high-quality multicenter, prospective cohort studies, and randomized controlled studies are needed.