Epidemiology and infection
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Colistin vs. the combination of colistin and rifampicin for the treatment of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii ventilator-associated pneumonia.
The aim of this study was to compare the responses of colistin treatment alone vs. a combination of colistin and rifampicin in the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by a carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii strain. Forty-three patients were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. ⋯ The VAP-related mortality rates were 63·6% (14/22) and 38·1% (8/21) for the colistin and the combination groups (P = 0·171), respectively. Our results suggest that the combination of colistin with rifampicin may improve clinical and microbiological outcomes of VAP patients infected with A. baumannii.