Yiqi Fumai Injection for patients with Septic Shock: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Abstract Background: Septic shock is an important problem in critical care medicine and one of the leading causes of death in intensive care units (ICU). In China, Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has been widely used as the adjuvant treatment to improve the symptoms and prognosis in patients with septic shock. Yiqi Fumai Injection (YFI) is one of the most important proprietary TCM for septic shock, previous studies have demonstrated its efficacy and safety. However, these conclusions were limited due to the small sample size and low quality of methodologies of these studies. Therefore, we designed this study to evaluate the efficacy and safety of using YFI as an adjunct treatment for septic shock.Methods/design: This is a double-blind, randomized, parallel, placebo-controlled clinical trial. A total of 800 participants will be randomly assigned to receive either treatment or placebo in a 1:1 ratio. The treatment group will receive YFI combined with conventional treatment, and the control group will receive 0.9% sodium chloride injection combined with conventional treatment for 2 weeks. The primary outcome is the 28-days mortality. Secondary outcomes are blood lactate levels, hemodynamics, blood gas analysis, immune function indicators, inflammatory indicators, acute physiology improvement and chronic health assessment (APACHE) II scores, and sepsis-related organ failure score (SOFA). Adverse events will be observed and recorded at the same time for safety assessment.Discussion: This randomized controlled trial will help evaluate the efficacy and safety of YFI for the treatment of septic shock. The results of this trial will provide recommendations for the management of septic shock.Trial registration {2a and 2b}：China Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR-1900026424.Registered on 15 June 2019.