Prolonged vs intermittent intravenous infusion of β-lactam antibiotics for patients with sepsis: a systematic review of randomized clinical trials with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis

Background The prolonged β-lactam antibiotics infusion has been an attractive strategy in severe infections, because it provides a more stable free drug concentration and a longer duration of free drug concentration above the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). We conducted this systematic review of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) with meta-analysis and trial sequential analysis (TSA) to compare the effects of prolonged vs intermittent intravenous infusion of β-lactam antibiotics for patients with sepsis. Methods This study was prospectively registered on PROSPERO database (CRD42023447692). We searched EMBASE, PubMed, and Cochrane Library to identify eligible studies (up to July 6, 2023). Any study meeting the inclusion and exclusion criteria would be included. The primary outcome was all-cause mortality within 30 days. Two authors independently screened studies and extracted data. When the I 2 values < 50%, we used fixed-effect mode. Otherwise, the random effects model was used. TSA was also performed to search for the possibility of false-positive (type I error) or false-negative (type II error) results. Results A total of 4355 studies were identified in our search, and nine studies with 1762 patients were finally included. The pooled results showed that, compared with intermittent intravenous infusion, prolonged intravenous infusion of beta-lactam antibiotics resulted in a significant reduction in all-cause mortality within 30 days in patients with sepsis (RR 0.82; 95%CI 0.70–0.96; P = 0.01; TSA-adjusted CI 0.62–1.07). However, the certainty of the evidence was rated as low, and the TSA results suggested that more studies were needed to further confirm our conclusion. In addition, it is associated with lower hospital mortality, ICU mortality, and higher clinical cure. No significant reduction in 90-day mortality or the emergence of resistance bacteria was detected between the two groups. Conclusions Prolonged intravenous infusion of beta-lactam antibiotics in patients with sepsis was associated with short-term survival benefits and higher clinical cure. However, the TSA results suggested that more studies are needed to reach a definitive conclusion. In terms of long-term survival benefits, we could not show an improvement.