Polymyxin B Hemoperfusion in Pediatric Septic Shock: Single-Center Observational Case Series

To evaluate the use of direct hemoperfusion with polymyxin B-immobilized fiber (PMX-DHP) as adjunctive therapy during pediatric patients with septic shock. DESIGN: Prospective observational study. SETTING: Nine-bed PICUs at university referral hospital. PATIENTS: Children (30 d to 15 yr) with septic shock and Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction (PELOD)-2 score greater than or equal to 10 or Pediatric Risk of Mortality (PRISM) 3 score greater than or equal to 15, who were also receiving at least one inotrope. INTERVENTION: Patients received 2–4 hour treatment with PMX-DHP 20R column on 2 consecutive days. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We enrolled six children aged 21–167 months old (median, 99-mo old), with a body weight of 10–50 kg (median, 28 kg). All six patients had both PELOD-2 greater than or equal to 10 and PRISM-3 greater than or equal to 15, required invasive mechanical ventilation, and received standard treatment for septic shock before enrollment. We observed significant improvement in PELOD-2 score from baseline to 72 hours after the start of PMX-DHP (mean [95% CI] from 14.3 [12.2–16.5] to 6.0 [0.3–11.7]; p = 0.006). The vasoactive inotropic score (VIS) and lactate concentration also significantly decreased from baseline to 72 hours (VIS, 60 mmol/L [25–95 mmol/L] to 4.0 mmol/L [44.1–12 mmol/L]; p = 0.003; lactate, 2.4 mmol/L [1.0–3.8 mmol/L] to 1.0 mmol/L [0.5–1.5 mmol/L]; p = 0.01). Five of six patients survived. There was no device-related adverse event in these patients. CONCLUSIONS: In this case series of treatment with PMX-DHP as adjunctive therapy in children with refractory septic shock and high baseline severity, we have shown that patient recruitment is feasible. We have also found that clinical hemodynamic and severity of illness scores at 72 hours may be potential end points for testing in future randomized controlled trials.