Abstract
Hydroxyethyl starch (HES) causes harm in critically ill patients, including renal injury and increased mortality. This has been concluded from high-quality randomized controlled trials with low risk of bias. In 2013, the European Medicines Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration determined that the use of HES solutions was associated with an increased risk of mortality and renal replacement therapy (RRT) or renal failure. HES is also associated with other serious adverse reactions such as increased bleeding, hepatic organ failure, anaphylactic reactions, and pruritus. For patients with severe sepsis or septic shock, the risks of increased mortality and more frequent use of RRT are considered to outweigh the limited benefits of more rapid attainment of hemodynamic stability as compared with crystalloids. Furthermore, sufficient evidence is not available to indicate that the benefits of using HES in other clinical settings (e.g., during surgery) outweigh the risks.
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Wiedermann, C.J. (2016). Hydroxyethyl Starch, Acute Kidney Injury, and Mortality. In: Landoni, G., Pisano, A., Zangrillo, A., Bellomo, R. (eds) Reducing Mortality in Acute Kidney Injury. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33429-5_20
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-33429-5_20
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