Early Initiation of Low-Dose Hydrocortisone Therapy for Septic Shock in Geriatric Patients: A Randomized Control Trial

Abstract

Background: The management of septic shock has undergone significant modifications in the past decade. Various studies have concluded that while corticosteroids reduce the duration of shock, they do not have any proven mortality benefit. Moreover, the time of initiation of corticosteroids has been debatable. Since, little literature is available on geriatric patients, we have designed a randomized trial to assess the importance of early initiation of low dose hydrocortisone comparing with the standard therapy.

Objectives: To determine the efficacy of early initiation of low dose hydrocortisone in reducing mortality in septic shock in geriatric patients.

Methods: We conducted a single blinded, randomized controlled trial at a tertiary care hospital in India. Geriatric patients (age>60 years) fulfilling the criteria for septic shock were included in the study. All the participants were randomly assigned to two arms- intervention and standard therapy group. The outcomes were studied in terms of 28-day mortality, duration of ICU stay, duration of vasopressor requirement and need for mechanical ventilation.

Results: Total 120 patients were randomized to either Intervention arm (N=61) or the Standard therapy arm (N=59). The number of patients with reversal of shock was higher in the intervention arm (53.4%) but no statistically significant association (p= 0.575) was found. There was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of 28- day mortality, length of ICU stay, need for mechanical ventilation and duration of vasopressor support.

Conclusion: This single centre trial demonstrated that there was no survival benefit associated with the early initiation of low dose hydrocortisone treatment in patients with vasopressor-dependent septic shock. It raised the concern that whether steroids are safe in elderly patients with septic shock.