Southern medical journal
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Southern medical journal · Dec 2024
Multicenter Study Comparative StudyComparison of Standard and Extended Dexamethasone Duration on Mortality in Patients with Severe COVID-19.
Current guidelines recommend dexamethasone 6 mg/day for up to 10 days in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) requiring supplemental oxygenation or mechanical ventilation. The practice has significant variation, however, and dexamethasone has been used for >10 days for many patients with severe COVID-19. The aim of this study was to assess the benefits and risks associated with standard versus extended use of dexamethasone in patients with severe COVID-19. ⋯ The results show that extended duration of dexamethasone compared with standard duration is associated with a significant increase in in-hospital mortality in patients with severe COVID-19. These findings need to be confirmed in well-designed and performed randomized controlled trials.