Doripenem holds its own against rival antibiotics for hospital pneumonia
Pooling five studies, a meta-analysis finds similar survival and cure rates.
Pneumonia caught in hospital, or on a ventilator, is among the most dangerous infections a patient can face. Which antibiotic to reach for matters.
A meta-analysis in The Ulutas Medical Journal pooled five clinical studies, three randomised trials and two retrospective analyses, comparing the carbapenem doripenem with other antibiotics.
Death within about a month was similar: 14.8% with doripenem and 16.9% with comparators, a gap that was not statistically meaningful. Clinical cure rates were also close, and the picture held for ventilator pneumonia and for infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
For clinicians, that suggests doripenem is a comparable option rather than a superior one.
Caveat: the evidence base is thin. Only five studies qualified, and the authors judged the three randomised trials to carry a high risk of bias.
Source: Kun-Yu Wu et al. Clinical Efficacy of Doripenem in Treating Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia and Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Ulutas Med J 2022. doi:10.5455/umj.20220513031721.
Image: Figure 2 of the article, CC BY-NC 4.0.
