Stress Ulcer Prophylaxis in Cardiac Surgery: A Retrospective Cohort Study to Analyze the Effects of SUP Cessation

INTRODUCTION

Upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB) is an important complication among critically ill adults, especially those having cardiac surgery as management is complicated by the requirement for antiplatelet/anticoagulant therapy. As a result, stress ulcer prophylaxis (SUP) has become routine practice in many centers, utilizing either proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) or histamine-2 receptor blockers (H2RBs). Recent evidence from the PEPTIC trial indicated an increase in mortality risk among cardiac surgery patients receiving PPIs compared to H2RBs. Considering these findings, alongside practical difficulties surrounding the transition to H2RBs as a prophylactic agent in New Zealand, Wellington Hospital intensive care unit elected to discontinue routine PPI use for SUP in cardiac surgery patients. A retrospective study was conducted to assess patient outcomes following the discontinuation of routine SUP.

METHOD

A retrospective cohort study was conducted of all adult patients who underwent cardiac surgery at Wellington Hospital between February/2018 and January/2022, and divided patients into cohorts before and after the discontinuation of routine use of SUP on the 31st of January 2020. The primary outcomes were the rate of UGIB, oesophagogastroduodenoscopy (OGD) and 180-day postoperative mortality. Secondary outcomes included rates of postoperative Clostridium difficile enteritis, pneumonia, deep sternal wound infection, and length of stay of the index admission.

RESULTS

The rate of UGIB statistically significantly increased since the cessation of routine SUP in January 2020 (2.4% vs 5.4%, P-value = .004). This finding was mirrored with the increased rates of OGD (1.9% vs 4.0%, P-value = .005). There were no significant changes in 180-day mortality, hospital length of stay, or any of the postoperative infective complications analyzed, pneumonia, deep sternal wound infection, or C difficile enteritis.

CONCLUSION

This study suggests an association between routine use of SUP and reduced rates of clinically significant UGIB and OGD requirements in cardiac surgery patients without increasing risk of infective complications or postoperative mortality.

Effect of Early Administration of Vitamin D on Clinical Outcome in Critically Ill Sepsis Patients: A Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial

Background

Administration of vitamin D to unselected heterogeneous critically ill patients did not demonstrate outcome benefit. The current study was undertaken to identify if early administration of vitamin D can reduce intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay and improve clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with sepsis.

Methods

This single-center randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial was done in the ICU and emergency inpatient ward of a tertiary care teaching institute in New Delhi, India. A total of 126 adult patients aged 18 to 80 years of either sex diagnosed to have sepsis were included within 24 hours of admission to the hospital and randomized into vitamin D or placebo groups. The patients in the intervention group received vitamin D3 540,000 units dissolved in 45 mL of milk. The placebo group received 45 mL of milk.

Results

The median length of ICU stay (8 vs 9 days; p = 0.32), median length of hospital stay (12 vs 12 days; p = 0.33), median duration of vasopressors requirement (4 vs 3 days; p = 0.84), median duration of mechanical ventilation (5 vs 7 days; p = 0.23), requirement of tracheostomy (34 vs 39%; p = 0.71), and 90-day mortality [35 vs 46%; p = 0.29; HR 0.72 (0.42–1.24)] were similar in vitamin D and placebo arm.

A subgroup analysis in patients with severe vitamin D deficiency (vitamin D <12 ng/mL) revealed a significantly decreased incidence of tracheostomy (28 vs 57%; p = 0.04), a trend toward decreased 90-day mortality [34 vs 66%; p = 0.08; HR 0.44 (0.19–1.01)], and duration of mechanical ventilation (6 vs 11 days; p = 0.05) in patients receiving vitamin D.

Conclusion

Administration of large-dose vitamin D within 24 hours of admission does not reduce the length of ICU stay in critically ill sepsis patients.

How to cite this article

Bhattacharyya A, Subramaniam R, Baidya DK, Aggarwal P, Wig N. Effect of Early Administration of Vitamin D on Clinical Outcome in Critically Ill Sepsis Patients: A Randomized Placebo-controlled Trial. Indian J Crit Care Med 2021;25(10):1147–1154.