CONTINUOUS INTRAVENOUS VASOPRESSIN IN ACTIVE UPPER GASTROINTESTINAL-BLEEDING - A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED TRIAL ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE FOGEL, M. R., Knauer, C. M., ANDRES, L. L., MAHAL, A. S., STEIN, D. E., KEMENY, M. J., Rinki, M. M., Walker, J. E., Siegmund, D., Gregory, P. B. 1982; 96 (5): 565-569

Abstract

Sixty patients with active upper gastrointestinal bleeding were randomized to received either continuous intravenous infusions of vasopressin (29 patients) or placebo (31 patients) at a rate of 40 U/h. Six hours after beginning the study, 13 patients in the vasopressin group and 11 in the placebo group] had ceased bleeding (p = 0.46). By 24 hours. 17 patients in the vasopressin group and 14 in the placebo group had stopped bleeding (p = 0.30). Restriction of the analysis to patients bleeding from varices showed no advantage with vasopressin treatment after 6 or 24 hours. No consistent trend favoring use of vasopressin to stop hemorrhage was noted during the 30-month study period. There was little difference between the two groups in the number of patients needing surgery (13 on vasopressin, 18 on placebo; p = 0.30) or the number of deaths (eight on vasopressin, 11 on placebo; p = 0.51); the transfusion requirement was the same. In our patients, a continuous intravenous infusion of vasopressin neither controlled bleeding nor altered outcome.

View details for Web of Science ID A1982NP94900004

View details for PubMedID 7041728