Objective: To investigate the effect of esmolol in septic shock patients with tachycardia. Methods: A prospective randomized controlled trial was conducted. Screening septic shock patients that admitted to Department of General Intensive Care Unit of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University from June 2016 to August 2017. After 24 h resuscitation therapy, 100 cases of septic shock patients with tachycardia (heart rate>100 bpm) were divided into esmolol group (n=50) and control group (n=50) with random number table. Patients in esmolol group accepted standard treatment plus esmolol injection with an initial dose of 25 mg/h. Heart rate target is 80 to 100 bpm. Patients in esmolol group continued to use esmolol for 7 days or to the day the patient left the ICU when the heart rate didn't achieve the target. Patients in control group were given standard treatment. Primary outcome was 28 d mortality. Secondary outcomes included heart rate, norepinephrine dosages, lactate level, inflammatory markers in per day during the trial; acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE Ⅱ) and sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) on day 1, 3, 5, 7; length of hospital stay, length of mechanical ventilation, medication time of vasoactive agent. The data were compared with t test or rank sum test between the two groups. Results: The 28 d mortality of esmolol group and control group was 62%, 68%, respectively(χ(2)=0.529, P=0.529). Logistic regression analysis showed that primary heart rate (increase of 10 bpm, OR=1.568, 95%CI: 1.039-1.238, P=0.027), primary APACHEⅡ (OR=1.134, 95%CI: 1.026-1.239, P=0.005), integral heart rate (per 10 bpm, OR=2.207, 95%CI: 1.400-3.479, P=0.001) were independent risk factors for 28 d mortality. Compared with control group, the esmolol group had a lower heart rate on day 1-7; but over all, there was no statistically significant difference in heart rate between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in total does of norepinephrine, lactate level, inflammatory markers, APACHE Ⅱ, SOFA, length of hospital stay between the two groups (all P>0.05). Conclusion: Tachycardia significantly increases the risk of death in patients with septic shock, esmolol may decrease the mortality by controlling heart rate.

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