The Effect of Nitroglycerine on Microcirculatory Abnormalities During Sepsis

Summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of nitro-glycerine on the microcirculation (smallest vessel type) in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. Nitro-glycerine is a well known medicine in cardiology and is used to improve circulation. In this ICU the investigators use nitro-glycerine to improve the organ perfusion; but it's no common therapy in the rest of the world. The investigators now compare nitro-glycerine and placebo by looking to the sublingual microcirculation by a small camera (SDF imaging).

Timeline

Start

2007-06

Primary completion

2008-07

Completion

2008-07

Outcome

Missed primary endpoint

paper However, no difference in the sublingual microvascular flow index was observed between groups. PMID 19730258 ↗

paper The median microvascular flow index in sublingual small-sized vessels was 2.71 (1.85-3) in the nitroglycerin group and 2.71 (1.27-3), p = .80, in the placebo group. PMID 19730258 ↗

Publications

• Boerma EC, Koopmans M, Konijn A, Kaiferova K, Bakker AJ, van Roon EN, Buter H, Bruins N, Egbers PH, Gerritsen RT, Koetsier PM, Kingma WP, Kuiper MA, Ince C. Effects of nitroglycerin on sublingual microcirculatory blood flow in patients with severe sepsis/septic shock after a strict resuscitation protocol: a double-blind randomized placebo controlled trial. Crit Care Med. 2010 Jan;38(1):93-100. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181b02fc1.

Drugs

Evaluation	Drug	Modality	Dose	Route
Subject	Nitroglycerin	Unknown	2 mg	Intravenous

Indications