One discussion this week included the use of vancomycin in the setting of acute kidney injury (AKI).

Reference: Navalkele B, et al. Risk of acute kidney injury in patients on concomitant vancomycin and piperacillin-tazobactam compared to those on vancomycin and cefepime. Clinical Infectious Diseases. 2017 Jan 15;64(2):116-123. doi:10.1093/cid/ciw709.

Summary: In a retrospective, matched, cohort study of 558 patients, Navlkele et al (2017) compared the incidence of AKI among patients receiving combination therapy with vancomycin + piperacillin-tazobactam (VPT) to a matched group receiving vancomycin + cefepime (VC).

AKI rates were significantly higher in the VPT group than the VC group (81/279 [29%] vs 31/279 [11%]). In multivariate analysis, therapy with VPT was an independent predictor for AKI (hazard ratio = 4.27; 95% confidence interval, 2.73-6.68). Among patients who developed AKI, the median onset was more rapid in the VPT group compared to the VC group (3 vs 5 days P =< .0001).