Background: Several studies have shown that vancomycin combined with piperacillin/tazobactam (VPT) increased the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) compared with other antibiotics in children. However, the epidemiology of VPT-associated AKI in children is unknown.

Objective: To evaluate the incidence and risk factors of VPT-associated AKI in children.

Data sources: Literature databases of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, WanFang Database, and China Biology Medicine Disc were searched from inception to November 2023. References of included studies were also manually checked.

Study selection and data extraction: Two independent reviewers selected studies, extracted data, and quality assessment. Meta-analyses were performed to quantify the incidence and risk factors of VPT-associated AKI in children.

Data synthesis: Sixteen cohort studies were identified. Overall, the incidence of VPT-associated AKI in children was 24.3% (95% CI: 17.9%-30.6%). The incidence of VPT-associated AKI in critically ill children (26.6%) was higher than that in noncritically ill children (10.9%). Moreover, higher serum vancomycin trough concentration (>15 mg/L), use of vasopressors, combination of nephrotoxins and intensive care unit admission were risk factors for VPT-associated AKI in children (P < 0.05).

Relevance to patient care and clinical practice: Identifying high-risk groups and determining safer treatments is critical to reducing the incidence of VPT-associated AKI in children.

Conclusions: The incidence of VPT-associated AKI in children is high, especially in critically ill children. Medication regimens should be personalized based on the presence of individual risk factors. Moreover, renal function was regularly assessed throughout treatment with VPT.

Declaration of Conflicting InterestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.