Population
Critically ill adults and children with severe sepsis or septic shock (14 studies, n= 50,142).
Intervention
Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) alone, or in combination with hemofiltration, hemadsorption, or conventional treatment of sepsis.
Comparison
Various comparators, including: other forms of blood purification therapy, immunomodulation and conventional treatment.
Outcome
Centrifugal TPE was the most common modality (209/280, 74.6% adults and 952/1,026, 92.7% children). Every TPE study utilized different volume exchanges. Most TPE sessions (1,173/1,306, 89.8%) employed fresh frozen plasma (FFP) as replacement fluid and heparin as anticoagulant. Adults with severe sepsis supported with TPE using FFP had lower mortality (risk ratio (RR), 0.64 [95% confidence interval (CI) [0.49, 0.84]) compared to those who did not. In contrast, TPE was associated with increased mortality in septic children without thrombocytopenia-associated multiorgan failure (RR, 2.23; 95% CI [1.93, 2.57]). There was no difference in outcomes in patients supported with centrifugal and membrane TPE. In both populations, patients supported on TPE as a continuous regime had poorer outcome.