• Clin Interv Aging · Jan 2017

    Randomized Controlled Trial

    Effect of small-dose levosimendan on mortality rates and organ functions in Chinese elderly patients with sepsis.

    • Xin Wang and Shikui Li.
    • Intensive Care Unit.
    • Clin Interv Aging. 2017 Jan 1; 12: 917-921.

    AimAs a primary cause of death not only in Western countries but also in the People's Republic of China, sepsis is diagnosed as abnormal organ functions as a result of a disordered response to a severe infection. This study was designed to assess the effect of small-dose levosimendan without a loading dose on mortality rates and organ functions in Chinese elderly patients with sepsis.MethodsFollowing a prospective, randomized, and double-blinded design, 240 Chinese elderly patients with sepsis shock were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). All patients were randomly and evenly assigned into a levosimendan group (number of patients =120) and a control group (number of patients =120). The control group underwent standard care, and the levosimendan group was administered levosimendan in addition to standard care.ResultsAll participants, comprising 134 males (55.8%) and 106 females (44.2%), were 70 (67-73) years old. Baseline characteristics, preexisting illnesses, initial infections, organ failures, and additional agents and therapies showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05 for all). There were no significant differences in mortality rates at 28 days, at ICU discharge, and at hospital discharge between the two groups (P>0.05 for all). The number of days of ICU and hospital stay in the levosimendan group was significantly less than for those in the control group (P<0.05 for all). Mean daily total sequential organ failure assessment score and all organ scores except the cardiovascular scores showed no significant difference between the two groups (P>0.05 for all). Cardiovascular scores in the levosimendan group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P<0.05 for all).ConclusionSmall-dose levosimendan could not reduce the mortality rates or enhance the respiratory, liver, renal, and coagulation functions, but could shorten the days of ICU and hospital stay, and improve the cardiovascular function, which suggests that small-dose levosimendan is valuable for Chinese elderly patients with sepsis.

      Pubmed     Free full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…