Comparison of teicoplanin versus vancomycin in combination with piperacillin-tazobactam or meropenem for the risk of acute kidney injury.

We compared the rates of acute kidney injury (AKI), 7-day and 30-day mortalities, and resolution of AKI at discharge in combination therapies involving either teicoplanin (TEI) or vancomycin (VAN) with piperacillin-tazobactam (TZP) or meropenem (MER). In a single-center, retrospective cohort study, adult patients (>18 years) who had a baseline serum creatinine level within 24 h of admission and who received study antibiotics for at least 48 h were included. The primary outcome was AKI incidence after therapy per RIFLE criteria. Multivariate logistic regression and propensity score match analyses were employed for statistical comparisons. Data from 379 patients were evaluated. In multivariate analysis (MVA) of the whole cohort, TZP-VAN combination was associated with significantly higher rate of AKI as compared with TZP-TEI (aOR: 3.21, 95% CI, 1.36-7.57; p = 0.008) or with MER-VAN (aOR: 2.28, 95% CI, 1.008-5.18; p = 0.048). In MVA of the matched cohorts, TZP-VAN as compared with TZP-TEI and MER-VAN was associated with 3.96 times (95% CI, 1.48-10.63, p = 0.006) and 3.11 times (95% CI, 1.12-8.62; p = 0.028) increased risk of AKI, respectively. No differences between MER-TEI and MER-VAN combinations were detected. Seven-day and 30-day mortalities and resolution rates of AKI were similar in all comparisons. Teicoplanin can be preferred instead of VAN when combination with TZP is used particularly for patients with high AKI risk.