To the best of our knowledge, this was one of the first studies to describe the clinical outcomes of CMS use in Chinese critically ill patients. The overall clinical effective rate was 67.9%, the microbiological eradication rate was 60.49%, and the infection-related hospital mortality was 8.33%. Subgroup analysis demonstrated that younger patients (< 65 years old), patients who received intravenous combined nebulized CMS, and infections caused by CRE benefitted more from CMS treatment. 30.43% of patients developed AKI, and most (82.14%) of them were stage 1. In light of these findings, CMS treatment for Chinese critically ill patients with CRO infections achieved favorable outcomes, with acceptable nephrotoxicity.
The increasing of mortality rate associated with CRO infections in critically ill patients has prompted the widespread adoption of CMS. A previous study in critically ill patients investigated the efficacy of CMS and found a clinical effective rate of 68% and a microbiological eradication rate of 62.5%. These findings are similar to those reported there [15]. Additionally, the findings of this study demonstrated that the infection-related hospital mortality rate was 8.33%, which was lower than that observed in previous studies [15, 21]. It is plausible that the mortality in critically ill patients is influenced by factors beyond infectious control, such as disease severity and the presence of comorbidities. It should be noted that this study only counted infection-related hospital mortality, and hospital deaths that occurred after symptom improvement were considered unrelated to infection. Lung infection was the most common site of infection in critically ill patients [22], with 80% of patients with lung infections in our study. Consequently, an analysis of the clinical outcomes of patients with lung infections was condducted, which revealed that 70.31% of patients achieved clinical effective, 61.19% of patients achieved microbiological eradication, and the infection-related hospital mortality was 7.79%, which was comparable to those of the overall population.
A 10-year prospective observational study conducted in China indicated that age ≥ 65 years was independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality among adult patients with lung infection [23]. The sub-group analysis of age < 65 years and ≥ 65 years revealed that younger patients exhibited a higher clinical effective rate and a lower infection-related hospital mortality. Similarly, a previous study has also demonstrated that the patients who responded to treatment were younger than patients who did not respond [15]. However, the microbiological eradication rate of younger patients in this study was slightly lower than that of older patients. It is postulated that this may be due to the fact that some younger patients with improved symptoms have not yet completed microbiological eradication. A previous study demonstrated that nebulized CMS enhanced clinical responses and diminished infection-related mortality [24]. Similarly, the sub-group analysis of medication method in this study demonstrated that, in comparison with patients who received intravenous therapy alone, those who received intravenous combined with nebulized CMS achieved higher clinical efficacy, microbiological eradication rate, and lower mortality rate. Our findings lend support to the combination of intravenous and nebulized CMS for lung infection caused by CRO, a recommendation also made by the most recent guidelines [8]. Prior research has demonstrated the efficacy of CMS in treating infections caused by CRAB, carbapenem-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa (CRPA), and CRE [25–27]. In accordance with the findings of this study, the clinical efficacy of CMS for the treatment of lung infections caused by various carbapenem-resistant organisms was consistently above 65%, with a microbial clearance rate was above 50%. It is noteworthy that the clinical effective rate in the CRE group reached 85%, indicating a greater benefit from CMS treatment.
Nephrotoxicity represents one of the most prevalent and severe adverse effects observed in patients treated with CMS. Colistin has been demonstrated to increase the permeability of renal tubular epithelial cells, leading to cell swelling and lysis [28]. SCr is a key indicator for detecting renal filtration capacity, and the KDIGO criteria based on SCr are frequently employed to evaluate the nephrotoxicity of CMS[29]. The incidence of nephrotoxicity caused by polymyxins in previous reports ranged from 0–60% [30–32]. The discrepancies in reported incidence rates are likely attributable to variations in the study populations, colistin dosage and duration of treatment, as well as the concomitant use of other nephrotoxic drugs. In this study, 30.43% of patients receiving CMS treatment developed AKI, which is within the ranges reported previously in the literature. A recent systematic review identified a prevalence of approximately 34.7% for polymyxin-induced nephrotoxicity (KDIGO criteria), which is similar to the findings of this study [31]. Additionally, the majority of patients with AKI were classified as stage 1, with mild symptoms, indicating that CMS therapy is a safe treatment for the management of CRO infections in critically ill patients.
The present study was subject to a number of limitations. Firstly, this single-center retrospective study is reliant on the record of events at the time of occurrence, which may result in a degree of bias in the interpretation of clinical response and toxicity. Secondly, the limited sample size and absence of a control group that did not receive CMS in this study restrict the scope for evaluating the true effect; a large-scale controlled study will be conducted to verify our findings. Thirdly, the majority of enrolled patients had lung infection, and therefore, the findings should be interpreted with caution when applied to other infection sites. Notwithstanding these limitations, our study has enhanced the efficacy and safety of CMS used in critically ill patients with CRO infections, thereby provides a reference for the clinical application of CMS.