Traditional Chinese medicine bundle therapy for septic acute gastrointestinal injury: A multicenter randomized controlled trial

Current conventional treatments for sepsis associated with acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) have limited efficacy. This study aimed to study traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) bundle therapy (based on TCM syndrome differentiation) as add-on to conventional treatments on the incidence of AGI and on the prognosis of patients with sepsis. This was a prospective multicenter randomized single-blind controlled trial. Intensive care units (ICUs) of five university teaching hospitals in Zhejiang Province (China) from December 2012 to December 2014. The control group received conventional treatment for sepsis and AGI. The intervention group received the conventional treatment combined with TCM bundle therapy. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality. The secondary outcomes included the clinical indicators of sepsis. The 28-day mortality (35.3% vs. 48.3%, P = 0.01) and AGI-attributable mortality (15.1% vs. 36.2%, P = 0.02) in the intervention group were significantly lower than in controls. Duration of mechanical ventilation (17.4 ± 10.4 vs. 19.9 ± 11.1 days, P = 0.049) and duration of ICU stay (17.3 ± 10.2 vs. 20.1 ± 11.5 days) were significantly shorter in the intervention group compared with controls. On days 7 and 14, D-lactate, diamine oxidase, lipopolysaccharides, tumor necrosis factor-α, intra-abdominal pressure, and abdominal circumference in the intervention group were significantly lower than in controls, and serum MTL levels and bowel sounds were significantly higher (all P < 0.05). TCM bundle therapy in the early stage of sepsis can improve survival and the markers of gastrointestinal function in patients with sepsis associated with AGI.