Effects of Etomidate on Postintubation Hypotension, Inflammatory Markers, and Mortality in Critically Ill Patients with COVID-19: An International, Multicenter, Retrospective Study.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association of etomidate with postintubation hypotension, inflammation, and mortality in critically ill patients with COVID-19.

DESIGN

International, multicenter, retrospective study.

PARTICIPANTS

Critically ill patients hospitalized specifically for COVID-19 from three major academic institutions in the US and Europe.

MAIN OUTCOME AND MEASURES

Patients were allocated into the etomidate (ET) group or another induction agent (OA) group. The primary outcome was postintubation hypotension. Secondary outcomes included postintubation inflammatory status, in-hospital mortality, and mortality at 30 days.

RESULTS

171 patients with a median age of 68 (IQR 58-73) years were included (ET, n  =  98; OA, n  =  73). Etomidate was associated with lower postintubation mean arterial pressure [74.33 (64-85) mm Hg 81.84 (69.75-94.25) mm Hg, p  =  0.005] compared to other agents. No statistically significant differences were generally observed in inflammatory markers between the two groups at 7- and 14-days after admission to the intensive care unit. In-hospital mortality [77 (79%) 41 (56%), p  =  0.003] and mortality at 30-days [78 (80%) 43 (59%), p  =  0.006] were higher in the ET group. In multivariate logistic regression analysis, only etomidate (p  =  0.009) and postintubation mean arterial pressure (p < 0.001) had a statistically significant effect on mortality, in contrast to stress-dose steroids (p  =  0.301), after adjusting for creatinine (p  =  0.695), blood urea nitrogen (p  =  0.153), age (p  =  0.055), oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (SpO) (p  =  0.941), and fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO) (p  =  0.712).

CONCLUSIONS

Administration of a single-bolus dose of etomidate in critically ill patients with COVID-19 is associated with lower postintubation mean arterial pressure and higher in-hospital and 30-day mortality compared to other induction agents.