High dose intravenous vitamin C treatment in Sepsis: associations with acute kidney injury and mortality

BACKGROUND: The effects of vitamin C on clinical outcomes in critically ill patients remain controversial due to inconclusive studies. This retrospective observational cohort study evaluated the effects of vitamin C therapy on acute kidney injury (AKI) and mortality among septic patients. METHODS: Electronic medical records of 1390 patients from an academic hospital who were categorized as Treatment (received at least one dose of 1.5 g IV vitamin C, n = 212) or Comparison (received no, or less than 1.5 g IV vitamin C, n = 1178) were reviewed. Propensity score matching was conducted to balance a number of covariates between groups. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted predicting AKI and in-hospital mortality among the full sample and a sub-sample of patients seen in the ICU. RESULTS: Data revealed that vitamin C therapy was associated with increases in AKI (OR = 2.07 95% CI [1.46–2.93]) and in-hospital mortality (OR = 1.67 95% CI [1.003–2.78]) after adjusting for demographic and clinical covariates. When stratified to examine ICU patients, vitamin C therapy remained a significant risk factor of AKI (OR = 1.61 95% CI [1.09–2.39]) and provided no protective benefit against mortality (OR = 0.79 95% CI [0.48–1.31]). CONCLUSION: Ongoing use of high dose vitamin C in sepsis should be appraised due to observed associations with AKI and death.