Blood purification with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration in patients with sepsis or ARDS: a systematic review...

Severe inflammatory conditions, as severe sepsis/septic shock and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), are related to high morbidity and mortality. We performed a meta-analysis of randomized trials to assess if blood purification with continuous veno-venous hemofiltration (CVVH) reduces mortality in these settings.

Online databases were searched for pertinent studies up to March 2017. We included randomized-controlled trials on the use of CVVH as blood purification technique in comparison to conventional therapy in adult patients with severe sepsis/septic shock or ARDS but no acute kidney injury needing renal replacement therapy.

Eleven studies and 679 patients were included in the analysis. Patients who received CVVH had significantly lower mortality compared to conventional therapy (96 of 351 [27.35%] patients in the CVVH group vs. 129 of 328 [39.33%] in the conventional therapy group, OR=0.58 [95% CI: 0.42, 0.81], P=0.002, I2=10%, number needed to treat: 8) at longest follow-up available.

Overall, low-quality evidence indicates that blood purification with CVVH might be associated with a significant reduction in mortality when performed in patients with sepsis or ARDS. The evidence is still insufficient to support a definitive conclusion of benefit. Further high-quality randomized controlled trials, adequately powered for mortality, are needed to clarify the impact of CVVH on these conditions.