Objective: To investigate the association between early blood pressure drop and worsening renal function (WRF) in ICU patients with liver failure and to evaluate their clinical outcomes.
Design: Retrospective observational study.
Setting: Intensive Care Medicine.
Patients: Patients admitted to the ICU for the first time during their first hospitalization; diagnosed with liver failure according to the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth and Tenth Revision codes; and aged ≥18 years were included. Patients with a peak systolic blood pressure (SBP) drop of <0 mmHg were excluded.
Intervention: We analyzed data of ICU patients with liver failure from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care IV version 2.2 database. Descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, Kruskal-Wallis test, and chi-square test were employed for analysis. Multivariate linear regression models were used to assess the determinants of blood pressure decline. Cox proportional hazards and generalized additive models were used to evaluate MAIN VARIABLES OF INTEREST: The relationship between blood pressure decline, WRF, and 60-day in-hospital mortality were evaluated, along with subgroup analyses.
Results: Peak SBP drop was independently associated with higher risks of WRF (P < 0.001) and 60-day in-hospital mortality (P < 0.001), even after adjusting for potential confounders, including baseline SBP. The independent risk relationship observed between peak diastolic blood pressure, mean arterial pressure drop, and the occurrence of WRF and 60-day in-hospital mortality was similar.
Conclusions: In ICU patients with liver failure, a significant early drop in blood pressure was associated with a higher incidence of WRF, increased risk of 60-day in-hospital mortality, and poorer prognoses.
The most used vasopressors in critically ill patients are exogenous catecholamines, mainly norepinephrine. Their use can be associated with serious adverse events and even increased mortality, especially if administered at high doses. In recent years, the addition of vasopressin has been proposed to counteract the deleterious effects of high doses of catecholamines (decatecholaminization) with the intention of improving the prognosis of these patients. Currently, vasopressin has two main indications: septic shock and vasoplegic shock in the postoperative period of cardiac surgery. In septic shock, current evidence favors its early initiation before reaching high doses of norepinephrine. In the postoperative period of cardiac surgery, the different benefits of the use of vasopressin have been studied, especially in patients with atrial fibrillation and pulmonary hypertension. When used properly, vasopressin is a safe an effective drug for the indications described above.