title: Effect of Early Vasopressin vs Norepinephrine on Kidney Failure in Patients With Septic Shock: The VANISH Randomized Clinical Trial.
abstract: Norepinephrine is currently recommended as the first-line vasopressor in septic shock; however, early vasopressin use has been proposed as an alternative.
  
  
  
  To compare the effect of early vasopressin vs norepinephrine on kidney failure in patients with septic shock.
  
  
  
  A factorial (2×2), double-blind, randomized clinical trial conducted in 18 general adult intensive care units in the United Kingdom between February 2013 and May 2015, enrolling adult patients who had septic shock requiring vasopressors despite fluid resuscitation within a maximum of 6 hours after the onset of shock.
  
  
  
  Patients were randomly allocated to vasopressin (titrated up to 0.06 U/min) and hydrocortisone (n = 101), vasopressin and placebo (n = 104), norepinephrine and hydrocortisone (n = 101), or norepinephrine and placebo (n = 103).
  
  
  
  The primary outcome was kidney failure-free days during the 28-day period after randomization, measured as (1) the proportion of patients who never developed kidney failure and (2) median number of days alive and free of kidney failure for patients who did not survive, who experienced kidney failure, or both. Rates of renal replacement therapy, mortality, and serious adverse events were secondary outcomes.
  
  
  
  A total of 409 patients (median age, 66 years; men, 58.2%) were included in the study, with a median time to study drug administration of 3.5 hours after diagnosis of shock. The number of survivors who never developed kidney failure was 94 of 165 patients (57.0%) in the vasopressin group and 93 of 157 patients (59.2%) in the norepinephrine group (difference, -2.3% [95% CI, -13.0% to 8.5%]). The median number of kidney failure-free days for patients who did not survive, who experienced kidney failure, or both was 9 days (interquartile range [IQR], 1 to -24) in the vasopressin group and 13 days (IQR, 1 to -25) in the norepinephrine group (difference, -4 days [95% CI, -11 to 5]). There was less use of renal replacement therapy in the vasopressin group than in the norepinephrine group (25.4% for vasopressin vs 35.3% for norepinephrine; difference, -9.9% [95% CI, -19.3% to -0.6%]). There was no significant difference in mortality rates between groups. In total, 22 of 205 patients (10.7%) had a serious adverse event in the vasopressin group vs 17 of 204 patients (8.3%) in the norepinephrine group (difference, 2.5% [95% CI, -3.3% to 8.2%]).
  
  
  
  Among adults with septic shock, the early use of vasopressin compared with norepinephrine did not improve the number of kidney failure-free days. Although these findings do not support the use of vasopressin to replace norepinephrine as initial treatment in this situation, the confidence interval included a potential clinically important benefit for vasopressin, and larger trials may be warranted to assess this further.
  
  
  
  clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: ISRCTN 20769191.
authors.affiliation: Section of Anaesthetics, Pain Medicine and Intensive Care Medicine, Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Alexina J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mason
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Neeraja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thirunavukkarasu
authors.affiliation: Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, Warwick Medical School, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gavin D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Perkins
authors.affiliation: Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, St George's University Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cecconi
authors.affiliation: Intensive Care Unit, Whittington Health National Health Service, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Magda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cepkova
authors.affiliation: Academic Department of Critical Care, Portsmouth Hospitals National Health Service Trust, Portsmouth, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Pogson
authors.affiliation: Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine, St George's University Hospitals National Health Service Foundation Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Hollmann D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Aya
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Aisha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Anjum
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Frazier
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Shalini
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Santhakumaran
authors.affiliation: Imperial Clinical Trials Unit, School of Public Health, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Deborah
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ashby
authors.affiliation: Centre for Perioperative and Critical Care Research, Imperial College Healthcare National Health Service Trust, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Stephen J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Brett
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003422:Critical Care / Q000379:methods*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D005260:Female; D005440:Fluid Therapy; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000008:administration & dosage; D007362:Intensive Care Units / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051437:Renal Insufficiency / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D017582:Renal Replacement Therapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012772:Shock, Septic / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000401:mortality; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014667:Vasopressins / Q000008:administration & dosage*
chemical_list: D014662:Vasoconstrictor Agents; D014667:Vasopressins; D006854:Hydrocortisone; D009638:Norepinephrine