Safety and effectiveness of colistin compared with non-colistin combinations in the treatment of multi drug resistant bacterial infections

Background: Multi drug resistant (MDR) bacteria are usually defined as when it is resistant to three or more group of antibiotics. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy and safety of colistin when compared with other antibiotics for the treatment of infections caused by MDR Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Methods: A single centre, prospective cohort study was conducted at Krishna Institute of medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India between September 2016 to March 2017. Seventy-four patients (74) were included in the study. Primary outcome were good clinical response and thirty days’ mortality, secondary outcome were microbiological response and adverse drug reactions of the drug.Results: A total of 74 patients were enrolled into the study. Forty patients (40) were received intravenous colistin dose of 2.5mg-5mg/kg/day. Remaining thirty-four patients (34) received other antibiotics which includes carbapenem, aminoglycosides. etc. The mean age, gender, underlying conditions and severity of illness of the patients in both groups were significantly same. In colistin group 27 (67.5%) patients and 11 (32.3%) patients had good clinical response. The overall mortality of the patients in the colistin group was 17.5% and that in the non-colistin group was 38.2%. The incidence of nephrotoxicity in colistin was 15% and 35.2% in non colistin group. No neurotoxicity was observed in present study.Conclusions: Our study concludes treatment with colistin decreases patient mortality and increase the clinical response in multidrug-resistant A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa infected patients. However large multicentric clinical trials are needed to demonstrate the safety and efficacy of colistin