Efficacy and Safety of Carbapenems vs New Antibiotics for Treatment of Adult Patients With Complicated Urinary Tract Infections: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

This systematic review and meta-analysis evaluated the clinical efficacy and safety of carbapenems for the treatment of complicated urinary tract infections (cUTIs), with the comparators being new antibiotics evaluated for this indication. We searched 13 electronic databases for published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and completed and/or ongoing trials. The search terms were developed using the Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, and Study framework. Pooled efficacy estimates of composite cure (clinical success and microbiological eradication) favored the new antibiotic groups, although this was not statistically significant (risk ratio [RR], 0.91; 95% CI, 0.79–1.04). A pooled estimate examining clinical response alone showed no difference between treatment arms (RR, 1.00; 95% CI, 0.96–1.05), however, new antibiotic treatments were superior to carbapenems for microbiological response (RR, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.79–0.91). New antibiotic treatments demonstrated a superior microbiological response compared with carbapenems in clinical trials of cUTI, despite an absence of carbapenem resistance. However, it is noteworthy that the clinical response and safety profile of new antibiotics were not different from those of carbapenems.