Association between early vasopressor administration and in-hospital mortality in critically ill patients with acute...

This study aims to explore the association between early administration of vasopressors and in-hospital mortality in acute pancreatitis (AP) patients admitted to the ICU.

The MIMIC-IV database was used to identify AP patients who had and had not received vasopressors. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression, propensity score matching (PSM), and inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) were used for statistical analysis.

A total of 894 AP patients admitted to the ICU were included in the study. Among them, AP patients who received vasopressors were associated with an increased risk of in-hospital mortality in the unadjusted model (OR: 7.77, 95% CI 4.92-12.61, p<0.001), multivariable-adjusted model (OR: 2.51,95% CI 1.1-5.76, p<0.05), PSM model (OR: 2.58, 95% CI 1.03-6.85, p<0.05) and IPTW model (OR: 1.82, 95% CI 1.06-3.15, p<0.05) compared with patients who did not receive vasopressors. In the subgroup analysis, age (≥ 65 years old: OR: 2.5, 95% CI 0.82-7.91; <65 years old: OR: 4.63, 95% CI 0.84-26.41), male (OR: 1.19, 95% CI 0.35-4.03), ethnicity (white: OR: 2.49, 95% CI 0.81-7.62; non-white: OR: 4.28, 95% CI 0.85-23.7), usage of norepinephrine (OR: 2.29, 95% CI 0.91-5.78), and single-use of vasopressor (OR: 1.48, 95% CI 0.43-4.95) were not associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with AP, whereas vasopressin (OR: 4.27, 95% CI 1.24-15.13; p<0.05) and phenylephrine usage (OR: 4.75, 95% CI 1.66-13.95; p<0.05), combined vasopressor usage (OR: 4.41, 95% CI 1.55-12.96; p<0.01), and female usage (OR: 7.89, 95% CI 2.03-34.2; p<0.01) were associated with in-hospital mortality.

Early vasopressor use is significantly associated with increased in-hospital mortality among critically ill AP patients. This association might be greater in females, vasopressin, phenylephrine, and combined vasopressor users. Our results may benefit clinicians as they can guide the rational use of vasopressors in critically ill AP patients admitted to the ICU.