Early administration of dobutamine in the treatment of septic shock patients with tumor-a retrospective comparative cohort study

BACKGROUND: Studies have found that dobutamine may be beneficial to protect organs function in patients with septic shock, but there is still a lack of relevant research in septic shock patients with tumor. The study sought to explore the role of the early administration of dobutamine in the treatment of septic shock patients with tumors. METHODS: We retrospectively collected the data of tumor patients who developed septic shock at Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center between June 2008 and November 2021. All the patients were divided into the following 3 groups: (I) the early administration group (<3 days, n=15); (II) the late administration group (≥3 days, n=22); and (III) the non-administration group (n=85). The primary observation indicator was 28-day mortality, and the secondary observation indicators included the shock reversal rate, the length of stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) and the duration of mechanical ventilation. There was no statistical difference in the basic data of the three groups. RESULTS: The early administration group had a significant decrease in 28-day mortality compared to the late and non-administration groups (log-rank P=0.018). The comparison between the groups showed that the 28-day mortality of the early administration group was significantly lower than that of the non-administration group [20.0% vs. 58.8%, P=0.013, hazard ratios (HRs) =0.248, 95% confidence intervals (CIs): 0.077–0.796]. There was no statistically significant difference in 28-day mortality between the late administration group and the non-administration group (63.6% vs. 58.8%, P=0.682, HR =0.983, 95% CI: 0.543–1.778). Additionally, the early administration group had a significantly increased shock reversal rate (P=0.014), shortened length of stay in the ICU (P<0.001), and reduced duration of mechanical ventilation (P=0.049). CONCLUSIONS: Early use of dobutamine may be beneficial to reduce the in-hospital mortality of septic shock patients with tumor, but the sample size of this study was small, which still needs to be confirmed by a multi-center randomized controlled clinical study.