Effect of vitamin C, thiamine, and hydrocortisone on ventilator- and vasopressor-free days in patients with sepsis

The VICTAS randomized trial assessed the clinical benefit of a regimen including I.V. vitamin C, thiamine, and hydrocortisone in adults with respiratory or cardiovascular dysfunction caused by sepsis. Specifically, researchers were interested in whether the treatment would augment the number of days alive and free of mechanical ventilation and vasopressor use. They enrolled 501 critically ill patients from 43 U.S. hospitals. Among 252 participants assigned to the study intervention, a median of 25 consecutive days were spent without use of vasopressors or ventilators during the 30 days after randomization took place. The outcome was similar, at a mean 26 days, among enrollees who received placebo. Because funding was suspended after the first 501 participants were enrolled, study authors suspect the trial may not have been adequately powered to detect a clinically significant difference.