Does vitamin C therapy improve outcomes in sepsis patients? Study sheds light

China: Intravenous Vitamin C (IVVC) therapy improves Organ failure Scores and the duration of Vasopressor use in sepsis and septic Shock Patients. Still, it fails to curtail mortality and adverse reactions, as indicated in a study published in Critical Care.

Sepsis, a condition characterized by life-threatening dysfunction of the organs caused by a host response to infection, and septic shock, a type of sepsis with a greater risk of mortality, collectively contribute to 11 million deaths annually across the globe. This places sepsis among the top health threats the World Health Organization identified.

The study was conducted by Dr Baofang Liang and his team of researchers, who analyzed 18 randomized controlled trials involving a total of 3,364 patients with sepsis or septic shock who received IV vitamin C therapy. The primary outcome measured was the delta Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score 72-96 hours after treatment. The SOFA score measures the extent of organ dysfunction in sepsis patients.

The key clinical takeaways from the study were:

The authors added that “IV vitamin C therapy may improve organ failure scores and reduce vasopressor use in patients with sepsis or septic shock. The therapy does not appear to improve short-term mortality rates and may increase the risk of adverse events. Further research is needed to determine the long-term effects of IV vitamin C therapy in sepsis patients.”

Reference:

Liang, B., Su, J., Shao, H. et al. The outcome of IV vitamin C therapy in patients with sepsis or septic shock: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Crit Care 27, 109 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-023-04392-y