Over the last 40 years, the use of corticosteroids in sepsis and septic shock has evolved from the initial use of high-dose, short-duration steroid therapy in the 1980s, to the recent recommendation of using low-dose longer- duration steroid therapy in refractory septic shock patients. A recent, prospective, open-label, randomized, controlled pilot trial of patients in four adult intensive care units in London-teaching hospitals showed that hydrocortisone decreased vasopressin requirements, reduced the duration and reduced the required dose, when used together in the treatment of septic shock, but it did not alter plasma vasopressin levels.

 

 

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