Antithrombin III Not for Sepsis Patients in ICU

Italian researchers, investigating the use of antithrombin III (ATIII) in sepsis patients in intensive care units (ICUs), have found no sound basis for the use of the drug in these patients. The study was published in the July 24, 2002, issue of Critical Care.

The study involved 216 patients admitted to ICUs in 20 Italian hospitals. The clinical indications for using ATIII were sepsis (25.9%), disseminated intravascular coagulation (23.1%), and other clinical conditions (46.9%). Alive and discharged by the end of the study were 65.3% of the patients, while 24.5% had died, and 10.2% of the patients were still in the hospital. Among the ICU patients with sepsis (56), 19 died.

The researchers compared the outcome study data with data from previous trials in a meta-analysis. Based on this result and the current findings, they found no sound basis for administering ATIII to sepsis patients in the ICU. The researchers were from the Drug Information Center, Azienda Ospedaliera Careggi, in Florence (Italy).