News 

Professor Sandra Peake, Director of Intensive Care Medicine at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Clinical Trials Group, and collaborators from across Australia have received a 2 year, $2,335,540 grant from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) to conduct the “Australasian Resuscitation In Sepsis Evaluation Fluids or Vasopressors in Emergency Department Sepsis trial (ARISE Fluids)”, a multicentre, randomised, clinical trial. Professor Peake is the Chief Investigator. All emergency departments in South Australian public hospitals will be invited to participate in the trial with at least 50 participating sites across Australia and New Zealand. ARISE Fluids will recruit 1000 patients.

Sepsis is a life-threatening response to infection. It is a rare disease but is a major public health issue. Septic shock, which is characterised by low blood pressure and impaired tissue perfusion, is associated with high mortality and long and complex recoveries for survivors. Current treatment for septic shock involves the administration of large volumes of intravenous (IV) fluid to restore blood pressure, with IV vasopressor medication reserved for patients with persistent hypotension (low blood pressure). Emerging evidence suggests this approach may be associated with harm, and that a fluid-sparing strategy with earlier introduction of vasopressors may be better. The ARISE Fluids trial will compare a strategy of IV fluid sparing resuscitation and early introduction of vasopressors to usual care in patients presenting to the Emergency Department with septic shock.