Abstract

Purpose: This study was conducted to determine whether critically ill patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with sepsis and septic shock may benefit from extended infusion of ampicillin/sulbactam compared with those receiving intermittent infusion. Material and methods: This randomized assessor-blinded clinical trial was conducted in the ICUs of Ne mazee and Shahid Rajaee hospital, Shiraz, Iran, from August 2019 to August 2021. The participants randomly received 9 g Ampicillin/Sulbactam every 8 h by either extended (infused over 4 h) or intermittent (infused over 30 min) intravenous infusion if their estimated glomerular filtration rate based on Cockrorft-Gault formula was higher than 60 ml/min. Results: Totally, 136 patients were enrolled and allocated to the intervention and control groups, each with 68 patients. Clinical cure was significantly higher in the extended group (P = 0.039), but ICU and hospital length of stay did not differ between the groups (P = 0.87 and 0.83, respectively). The ICU (P = 0.031) and hospital (P = 0.037) mortality rates in the extended infusion group were significantly lower than those in the intermittent infusion group. Conclusion: These data should be replicated in larger clinical trials before providing any recommendation in favor of this method of administration in clinical practice. (C) 2022 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.