Empiric Stress Dose Steroids in Trauma Patients: A Case Report of Hypopituitarism in Traumatic Hemorrhage.

Trauma patients experience relative adrenal insufficiency or critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency (CIRCI) in majority of 60% of patients. It has been shown that both septic shock and trauma cause dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary axis and, in some cases, structural damage to the adrenal glands themselves through hemorrhage or infarction. Empiric steroids are used commonly in patients with septic shock for patients who are refractory to fluids and vasopressors.