Managing postinduction hypotension: the jury is still out.

Abstract

The EPITUBE trial compared preventive continuous norepinephrine infusion with reactive ephedrine bolus injections in patients undergoing cardiac surgery during induction of anaesthesia, showing no difference in the incidence of severe postinduction hypotension or postoperative outcomes. However, several design features limited the ability to detect a treatment effect, including rescue ephedrine use in the norepinephrine group, absence of vasopressor use in more than half of control patients, and widespread norepinephrine exposure later in surgery. As a result, the two groups achieved only minimal separation in actual vasopressor exposure. The findings reinforce that preventive norepinephrine infusion is feasible and safe, but further research is needed to determine whether it can improve outcomes in selected surgical populations.