• Veena Karir, Colin R Cooke, Liane Andersson, Ellen Caldwell, and Gordon D Rubenfeld.
• Department of Pharmacy, Harborview Medical Center, Box 359885, Seattle, WA 98104, USA. karir@u.washington.edu
• J Crit Care. 2010 Jun 1;25(2):363.e9-363.e14.

PurposeLittle is known about how published evidence regarding use of steroids in septic shock has been incorporated into clinical practice.Materials And MethodsAll patients admitted to an intensive care unit at a single, tertiary-care, academic medical center from November 1, 2004, through February 28, 2005, were screened using the hospital's computerized pharmacy database to determine if they had received at least 1 qualifying medication: cosyntropin, fludrocortisone, hydrocortisone, or dopamine, epinephrine, or norepinephrine as a vasopressor infusion.ResultsOnly 58% (95% confidence interval, 47%-69%) of the 81 patients who met criteria for vasopressor-dependent septic shock (VDSS) were evaluated for critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency. Forty-seven percent of the 81 patients who met the criteria for VDSS and 49% of the 47 patients who did not meet the criteria for VDSS were treated with corticosteroids. Nearly all (85%; 95% confidence interval, 72%-94%) patients who did not meet the criteria for VDSS received an adrenocorticotropic hormone test.ConclusionsTreatment and evaluation of critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency in critically ill patients at our institution are inconsistent. Many patients with VDSS do not receive either treatment or evaluation for critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency, and patients who do not meet the current criteria are being evaluated and/or treated for critical illness-related corticosteroid insufficiency.Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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