Impact of Chronic Kidney Disease on the Onset of Sepsis: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) who develop sepsis experience worse prognoses; however, the impact of CKD on the incidence of sepsis has not been systematically investigated. A systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A comprehensive search of Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online, Web of Science, the Cochrane Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrials.gov was performed for literature published prior to May 22, 2025, comparing the onset of sepsis in patients with or without CKD. The risk of bias was determined using the Risk of Bias in Nonrandomized Studies of Interventions tool. This study was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (CRD42023465075). A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria for the systematic review. Of these, 5 examined community-acquired sepsis, 2 focused on intensive care unit-acquired sepsis, and the rest investigated surgery-acquired sepsis. Most studies enrolled populations aged over 65 years; 2 assessed age-related sepsis risk. One study evaluated sepsis occurrence in patients with end-stage CKD, while 3 studies stratified this association by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR). Nearly all studies demonstrated an increased risk of sepsis among patients with CKD, with the risk progressively increasing as eGFR declined. Additionally, 2 studies reported that CKD elevated the risk of sepsis regardless of age, and all included studies indicated a low risk of bias. We indicate that patients with CKD may have a higher risk of developing sepsis than individuals without CKD.