Respiratory failure & ventilation
Efficacy and Safety of Systemic Prophylactic Antibacterials in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Pooled result · Incidence of VAPResult — go to the resultRelative risk 0.65 95% CI 0.55–0.77Authors' conclusion
The systemic prophylactic antibacterials probably reduces early VAP and overall VAP incidence in mechanically ventilated patients, but probably does not reduce in-hospital mortality.
Study context
- Population
- Mechanically ventilated patients in ICUs
- Participants
- 5,562 participants · 11 randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
- Comparison
- Systemic prophylactic antibacterials vs no prophylaxis
- Outcome
- Incidence of VAP
Methodological detailsGRADE certainty assessment
- GRADE certainty assessment
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Relative risk
0.65
95% CI 0.55–0.77
Systemic prophylactic antibacterials vs Control
RR 0.65 (95% CI 0.55–0.77)
Further pooled results
| Outcome | RR (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Incidence of early VAPModerate certainty | 0.52 (0.41–0.66) | |
| In-hospital mortalityModerate certainty | 0.85 (0.68–1.06) | |
| 0.512Relative risk (log scale) |
| Outcome | MD (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|
| Duration of mechanical ventilationModerate certainty | −0.32 (−0.79 to 0.16) | |
| Hospital LOSLow certainty | −1.56 (−5.15 to 2.02) | |
| −10−505Difference (linear scale) |
Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), brain injury patients (subgroup)
- Systemic prophylactic antibacterials probably reduce VAP in brain injury patients
Safety
Drug resistance and adverse events
- No increased risk observed
Original publication
Efficacy and Safety of Systemic Prophylactic Antibacterials in Mechanically Ventilated Patients: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Crit Care Med. Published 1 June 2026. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →