{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,25]],"date-time":"2026-09-25T15:54:30Z","timestamp":1790351670788,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1770249600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Merck Sharp and Dohme LLC"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Antibiotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Introduction: Infections attributed to multidrug-resistant organisms have resulted in a significant clinical burden, high mortality, and excessive costs. Identifying the most appropriate and efficacious treatments will aid in reducing these burdens. Imipenem\/cilastatin + relebactam (I\/R) is used against multidrug-resistant infections providing an alternative option which may support patients where traditional treatments are no longer effective. Objective: The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of I\/R for complicated urinary tract infections, complicated intra-abdominal infections, hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia, and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, based on data aggregated from randomized controlled trials. Method: Two systematic literature reviews were conducted to include randomized controlled trials which aligned with the inclusion criteria reporting on the efficacy of I\/R against placebo or other comparators such as piperacillin\/tazobactam or colistin. The outcomes of interest were mortality, clinical response, and microbiological response. Results: The results found reduced mortality and comparable clinical and microbiological response with I\/R versus its comparators. I\/R displayed the largest favorable clinical and microbiological responses within high-risk populations, including those with severe renal impairment when compared with piperacillin\/tazobactam. Conclusions: These findings support the efficacy of I\/R for key Gram-negative infections, particularly within vulnerable patient populations. Despite the favorable outcomes reported, there is a need for further real-world evidence generation to support the efficacy of I\/R to aid in standardizing treatment guidelines and reducing the clinical and economic burden associated with multidrug-resistant bacterial infections.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics15020170","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]],"date-time":"2026-02-05T10:35:37Z","timestamp":1770287737000},"page":"170","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Exploring the Effectiveness of Imipenem\/Relebactam in Patients with Antimicrobial-Resistant Hospital-Acquired Infections: Findings from Systematic Literature Reviews"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Ryan K.","family":"Shields","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5834-4063","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ignacio","family":"Martin-Loeches","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Intensive Care Medicine, Multidisciplinary Intensive Care Research Organization (MICRO), St. James\u2019s Hospital, D08 NHY1 Dublin, Ireland"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, College Green, D02 R590 Dublin, Ireland"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6036-9526","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Emre","family":"Y\u00fccel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ 02115, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-4247-1801","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Shalini","family":"Bagga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CHEORS LLC, Chalfont, PA 18914, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0008-9315-8400","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vaneet","family":"Pal Kaur Khurana","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CHEORS LLC, Chalfont, PA 18914, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6193-6871","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Prashant","family":"Soni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CHEORS LLC, Chalfont, PA 18914, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-4456-3763","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Prateek","family":"Das","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CHEORS LLC, Chalfont, PA 18914, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-5310-2326","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carolyn","family":"Cameron","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"MSD, Sydney 2113, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"WHO (2026, January 23). 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