OBJECTIVE: To systematically evaluate the risk of superinfection induced by carbapenems.METHODS: Pub Med

EMBase

the Cochrane Library and CNKI were retrieved to collect randomized controlled trial of carbapenems and non-carbapenems in the treatment of infections. The retrieval time was from the establishment of the database to Oct. 2020. Meta-analysis was performed by using Rev Man 5. 3 software after selection of literature

extraction of data and evaluation of risk of bias by two researchers. RESULTS: Totally 9 literature were collected

including 886 patients. There were one Chinese literature and eight English literature; six were literature with comparison of imipenem cistatin sodium and non-carbapenems

and three were literature with comparison of meropenem and non-carbapenems. Meta-analysis results showed that the risk of superinfection induced by carbapenems was significantly higher than that of non-carbapenems

and the difference was statistically significant（ RR = 1. 52

95%CI = 1. 14-2. 04

P = 0. 005）. The risk of superinfection induced by imipenem and cilastatin sodium was significantly higher than that of non-carbapenems（ RR = 1. 73

95% CI = 1. 26-2. 37

P = 0. 000 7）. There was no significant difference in the risk of superinfection between meropenem and non-carbapenems（ RR = 0. 70

95% CI =0. 31-1. 61

P = 0. 41）. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of superinfection induced by carbapenems is higher than that of noncarbapenems

suggesting that more caution should be exercised in the clinical application of these advanced broadspectrum antibiotics and attention should be paid to the prevention and treatment of superinfection.