(1) Background: Renal insufficiency is a risk factor for cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) infection. (2) Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted from multiple electronic databases to identify studies. Using the random effects model, we calculated the pooled rates of CIED infection and their 95% confidence intervals. We also calculated the pooled odds ratios to determine the risk of CIED infections due to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD). We utilized the Cochran Q and I2 statistics to detect and quantify heterogeneity. (3) Results: A total of 17 studies comprising 359,784 patients with renal insufficiency were added to the meta-analysis. Out of these, 263,819 were CKD patients and 89,617 were ESRD patients. The pooled rate of CIED infection in patients with CKD was 4.3% (95% CI: 2-8.8; I2: 95.7), and in patients with ESRD, it was 4.8% (95% CI: 2.6-8.7; I2: 99.4). The pooled risk of CIED infection in the CKD population was OR 2.5 (95% CI: 1.9-3.3; p < 0.001; I2: 21.1), and in the ESRD population, it was OR 2.4 (95% CI: 1.01-5.7; p = 0.046; I2: 88.8). ESRD was associated with higher mortality, OR 2.5 (95% CI: 1.4-4.4.8; p = 0.001; I2: 95). (4) Conclusions: The presence of renal insufficiency increases the number of CIED infections. In particular, patients with ESRD have an increased risk of mortality.
Keywords: cardiac implantable electronic device; chronic kidney disease; device-related infections; end-stage renal disease; renal insufficiency.