Refractory septic shock and alternative wordings: A systematic review of literature.

Background: We reviewed the different studies using the terms "refractory septic shock" and/or "catecholamine resistance" and/or "high dose norepinephrine" so as to highlight the heterogeneity of the definitions used by authors addressing such concepts.

Method: A systematic review was conducted assessing the papers reporting data on refractory septic shock. We used keywords as exact phrases and subject headings according to database syntax.