Feasibility, Utility, and Safety of Midodrine During Recovery Phase From Septic Shock

We describe the feasibility, utility, and safety of oral midodrine to replace IV vasopressors during recovery from septic shock.

This was a retrospective study performed in a medical ICU. All study subjects had a diagnosis of septic shock requiring at least 24 hours of IV vasopressors and demonstrated clinical stability with stable or decreasing doses of IV vasopressors. The two groups compared were those who received IV vasopressors only and those who received IV vasopressors with adjunctive midodrine.

Of the 275 study patients, 140 received an IV vasopressor only and 135 received midodrine in addition to an IV vasopressor. There was no difference between the groups' demographics (age, sex, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation 4 score). Mean IV vasopressor duration was 3.8 days in the IV vasopressor only group and 2.9 days in the IV vasopressor with midodrine group (P < .001). An IV vasopressor was reinstituted after discontinuation in 21 of 140 (15%) patients in the IV vasopressor only group and in 7 of 135 (5.2%) patients in the IV vasopressor with midodrine group (P = .007). ICU length of stay was 9.4 days in the IV vasopressor only group and 7.5 days in the IV vasopressor with midodrine group (P = .017). There were no complications associated with midodrine use except transient bradycardia in one patient, which resolved upon discontinuation of midodrine.

Midodrine may reduce the duration of IV vasopressors during recovery phase from septic shock and may be associated with a reduction in length of stay in the ICU.