ArticleAnnals of intensive care2017
Omega-3 supplementation in patients with sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials.
Article in Annals of intensive care, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 67 citations in OpenAlex.
- Nutritional Support with Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Burn Patients: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Multivariate meta-analysis of critical care meta-analyses: a meta-epidemiological study.BMC medical research methodology · 2021Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is associated with favorable outcomes in patients with sepsis: an updated meta-analysis.The Journal of international medical research · 2020Pooled it
- Omega-3 fatty acid-containing parenteral nutrition in ICU patients: systematic review with meta-analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2020Pooled it
- [S3 Guideline Sepsis-prevention, diagnosis, therapy, and aftercare : Long version].Medizinische Klinik, Intensivmedizin und Notfallmedizin · 2020Guideline
- Exploring a tolerable and effective dosage of omega-3 fatty acids as a supplement in enterally fed patients with severe pneumonia: A pilot study.Asia Pacific journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- What Are We Actually Feeding ICU Patients? The Case for Studying Formula Composition.Critical care explorations · 2026Review
- Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation inhibits monocyte exhaustion memory formation during sepsis.Inflammation research : official journal of the European Histamine Research Society ... [et al.] · 2026Article
- Omega-3 PUFAs Mitigate Polytrauma-Induced Gut-Liver-Lung Inflammation and Organ Dysfunction via GPR120/PPAR-γ.Journal of inflammation research · 2026Article
- Intestinal Microbiota Dysbiosis Role and Bacterial Translocation as a Factor for Septic Risk.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Omega-3 fatty acids as host-directed immunomodulatory therapeutics in sepsis: real-world evidence supporting drug development potential for systemic inflammatory diseases.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Protective impact of circulating ω-3 PUFAs on sepsis susceptibility throughFrontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Recent advances in understanding oxidative stress in sepsis: pathogenic roles and antioxidant therapeutic prospects - a narrative review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Innate immune response in acute critical illness: a narrative review.Annals of intensive care · 2024Review
- The severity of COVID-19 upon hospital admission is associated with plasma omega-3 fatty acids.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Exploring the role of antioxidants in sepsis-associated oxidative stress: a comprehensive review.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Review
- Clinical treatment for persistent inflammation, immunosuppression and catabolism syndrome in patients with severe acute pancreatitis (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2023Review
- Mendelian Randomization Analysis Reveals Causal Associations of Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids with Sepsis and Mortality Risk.Infectious diseases and therapy · 2023Article
- Effects of fish oil-containing nutrition supplementation in adult sepsis patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Burns & trauma · 2022Article
- Pharmaconutrition strategy to resolve SARS-CoV-2-induced inflammatory cytokine storm in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids.World journal of clinical cases · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNutritional supplementation of omega-3 fatty acids has been proposed to modulate the balance of pro- and anti-inflammatory mediators in sepsis. If proved to improve clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with sepsis, this intervention would be easy to implement. However, the cumulative evidence from several randomized clinical trials (RCTs) remains unclear.
methodsWe searched the Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, and EMBASE through December 2016 for RCTs on parenteral or enteral omega-3 supplementation in adult critically ill patients diagnosed with sepsis or septic shock. We analysed the included studies for mortality, intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay, and duration of mechanical ventilation, and used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach to assess the quality of the evidence for each outcome.
resultsA total of 17 RCTs enrolling 1239 patients met our inclusion criteria. Omega-3 supplementation compared to no supplementation or placebo had no significant effect on mortality [relative risk (RR) 0.85; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.71, 1.03; P = 0.10; I
conclusionOmega-3 nutritional supplementation may reduce ICU length of stay and duration of mechanical ventilation without significantly affecting mortality, but the very low quality of overall evidence is insufficient to justify the routine use of omega-3 fatty acids in the management of sepsis.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.