New research indicates that is very much possible to treat pediatric septic shock in children with a combination of intravenous vitamin C and intravenous vitamin B1 along with hydrocortisone. These treatments were associated with lower mortality. The retrospective study is the first to examine safe and effective treatments for pediatric septic shock. Results were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
"We were surprised and excited to see a substantial reduction in mortality after treating septic shock in children with a high dose of vitamin C combined with vitamin B1 and hydrocortisone," says lead author Eric Wald, MD, MSCI, critical care physician at Lurie Children's and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "While based on a retrospective analysis, our results are especially compelling in that they are very similar to the positive outcomes found in a recent randomized controlled trial of vitamin C treatment for septic shock in adults."
Septic shock is in response to a severe systemic infection leading to dangerously low blood pressure and organ failure. It is one of the leading causes of death in children.
In the study, patients who were on a vitamin C-B1-hydrocortisone treatment had improved survival rates.
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"While it is still unclear why vitamin C appears to reduce mortality from septic shock and we need to dig deeper to understand the mechanism, our results are incredibly promising," says Dr. Wald. "We hope to encourage larger, multi-center studies in children with septic shock to confirm our data."
Source: Science Daily
