Capillary refill time exploration during septic shock

Background During septic shock management, the evaluation of microvascular perfusion by skin analysis is of interest. We aimed to study the skin capillary refill time (CRT) in a selected septic shock population. Methods We conducted a prospective observational study in a tertiary teaching hospital. After a preliminary study to calculate CRT reproducibility, all consecutive patients with septic shock during a 10-month period were included. After initial resuscitation at 6 h (H6), we recorded hemodynamic parameters and analyzed their predictive value on 14-day mortality. CRT was measured on the index finger tip and on the knee area. Results CRT was highly reproducible with an excellent inter-rater concordance calculated at 80 % [73–86] for index CRT and 95 % [93–98] for knee CRT. A total of 59 patients were included, SOFA score was 10 [7–14], SAPS II was 61 [50–78] and 14-day mortality rate was 36 %. CRT measured at both sites was significantly higher in non-survivors compared to survivors (respectively 5.6 ± 3.5 vs 2.3 ± 1.8 s, P