SynthesisCritical care (London, England)2023
The outcome of IV vitamin C therapy in patients with sepsis or septic shock: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
Synthesis in Critical care (London, England), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 32 citations in OpenAlex.
- Monotherapy or combinations? Intravenous vitamin C in sepsis and septic shock: An umbrella review of 31 systematic reviews.PloS one · 2026Pooled it
- Effects of different vitamins on individuals with septic shock: a Bayesian NMA of RCTs.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Role of vascular smooth muscle cell pathobiology in sepsis‑induced vasoplegia (Review).International journal of molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Effect of high-dose intravenous vitamin C on organ support-free days within the first 14 days in severe acute pancreatitis patients: a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial protocol.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Intravenous Vitamin C in Severe Sepsis: A Systematic Review of Evidence From 2020 to 2025.Cureus · 2026Review
- Vitamin C is associated with improved outcomes in patients with sepsis-induced myocardial injury: insights from the MIMIC-IV database.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Inflammatory burden index as a predictor of mortality in septic patients: a retrospective study using the MIMIC-IV database.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- The Japanese Critical Care Nutrition Guideline 2024.Journal of intensive care · 2025Review
- Vitamin C for sepsis: from mechanisms to individualized therapy.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Review
- Recent advances in understanding oxidative stress in sepsis: pathogenic roles and antioxidant therapeutic prospects - a narrative review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Review
- Article
- The effects of antioxidant supplementation on short-term mortality in sepsis patients.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Predicting hypovitaminosis C with LASSO algorithm in adult critically ill patients in surgical intensive care units: a bi-center prospective cohort study.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Vitamin C: Rationale for Its Use in Sepsis-Induced Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Reevaluating vitamin C in sepsis and septic shock: a potential benefit in severe cases?Frontiers in medicine · 2024Review
- Intravenous Ascorbic Acid for the Prevention of Postreperfusion Syndrome in Orthotopic Liver Transplantation: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2023Article
- Targeting the host response in sepsis: current approaches and future evidence.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Review
- Vitamin C as a treatment for organ failure in sepsis.European journal of medical research · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundTo update a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and further explore the outcome of IV vitamin C (IVVC) administration in sepsis or septic shock patients.
methodsThis study is a meta-analysis of RCTs. The RCTs of vitamin C therapy in sepsis or septic shock were searched in PubMed, EMBASE and Clinical Trials.gov from inception to January 16, 2023. We registered the protocol with PROSPERO (CRD42022354875). The primary outcome was delta Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score at 72-96 h. Two reviewers independently assessed RCTs according to eligibility criteria: (1) study type: RCT; (2) patient population: patients ≥ 18 years with sepsis or septic shock; (3) intervention: IVVC at any doses as monotherapy or combined with thiamine or and hydrocortisone compared with standard of care, no intervention or placebo (defined as control group); (4) the RCT described short-term mortality or SOFA score. Then, two authors independently extracted related information from RCTs.
resultsEighteen RCTs (n = 3364 patients) were identified in this meta-analysis. There were significant effects in the delta SOFA score from baseline to 72-96 h (MD, - 0.62; 95% CI, - 1.00 to - 0.25; p = 0.001) and the duration of vasopressor use (MD, - 15.07; 95% CI, - 21.59 to - 8.55; p < 0.00001) with IVVC therapy. Treatment with IVVC was not shown to improve short-term mortality (OR, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.77 to 1.04; p = 0.14); nevertheless, dose at 25-100 mg/kg/d subgroup associated with a significant reduction in short-term mortality (OR, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.65 to 0.97; p = 0.03). An increase adverse event was observed in IVVC therapy (OR, 1.98; 95% CI, 1.06 to 3.68; p = 0.03).
conclusionIn this meta-analysis, IVVC in sepsis or septic shock patients significantly improved delta SOFA score and reduced the duration of vasopressor use, whereas it was not associated with reduction in short-term mortality and had higher adverse events.
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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.