Background: Septic shock is characterized by dysregulation of the host response to infection, with circulatory, cellular, and metabolic abnormalities. We hypothesized that therapy with hydrocortisone plus fludrocortisone or with drotrecogin alfa (activated), which can modulate the host response, would improve the clinical outcomes of patients with septic shock.
Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, randomized trial with a 2-by-2 factorial design, we evaluated the effect of hydrocortisone-plus-fludrocortisone therapy, drotrecogin alfa (activated), the combination of the three drugs, or their respective placebos.
Background: Few outcome data are available about intraoperative cardiac arrest (IOCA). The authors studied 90-day functional outcomes and their determinants in patients admitted to the intensive care unit after IOCA.
Methods: Patients admitted to 11 intensive care units in a period of 2000-2013 were studied retrospectively.