Background: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of polymyxin B hemoperfusion (PMX-HP) in patients with peritonitis-induced septic shock who still required high dose vasopressors after surgical source control.
Methods: This retrospective study included adult patients admitted to the surgical intensive care unit (ICU) at Seoul National University Hospital between July 2014 and February 2021 who underwent major abdominal surgery to control the source of sepsis. Patients were divided into two groups based on whether PMX-HP was applied after surgery or not. The primary and secondary endpoints were the vasopressor reduction effect, and in-ICU mortality, respectively. Propensity score matching was performed to compare the vasopressor reduction effect.
Results: A total of 338 patients met the inclusion criteria, of which 23 patients underwent PMX-HP postoperatively, whereas 315 patients did not during the study period. Serum norepinephrine concentration decreased over time regardless of whether PMX-HP was applied. However, it decreased more rapidly in the PMX-HP(+) group than in the PMX-HP(-) group. There were no significant differences in demographics including age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and most underlying comorbidities between the two groups. Risk factors for in-ICU mortality were identified by comparing patient characteristics and perioperative factors between the two groups using multivariate analysis.
Conclusion: For patients with peritonitis-induced septic shock, PMX-HP rapidly reduces the requirement of vasopressors immediately after surgery, but does not reduce in-ICU mortality. This effect could potentially accelerate recovery from shock, reduce sequelae from vasopressors, and ultimately improve quality of life after discharge.
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