Abstract
Vasopressin has been described to restore blood pressure in patients with several shock states. We report the effects of vasopressin treatment in eight patients with severe septic shock unresponsive to norepinephrine. Vasopressin was added by continuous infusion at rate of 0.021 ± 0.008 U·min-1. In all cases, vasopressin induced sustained improvement in mean arterial pressure with a significant increase in urine output. Vasopressin treatment did not affect platelet counts in blood as well as the plasma transaminase and total bilirubin levels. All patients survived without severe adverse effects. The continuous infusion by a small amount of vasopressin may be effective for norepinephrine-resistant septic shock, which leads to the improvement of hemodynamics valuables with better outcome.
