Project Summary Sepsis is a medical emergency defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated host response to infection. Septic shock is the most severe form, involving cardiovascular failure. More than 75,000 children in the US and four million children worldwide are hospitalized with sepsis or septic shock every year. Sepsis is currently the most expensive hospital condition in the US and, for critically ill patients— including children—is the most common cause of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome and hospital death.1,26 The World Health Organization and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have called for optimizing therapies for sepsis.33 Because fluid resuscitation provides the best established benefit for septic shock (other than antibiotics), there has been an effort to identify the most effective fluid administration strategy. Despite progress, a remaining key gap in knowledge delineated by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign is which crystalloid fluid is the most effective and safest to use for initial resuscitation of septic shock. Two types of crystalloids are used for resuscitation in sepsis: 0.9% “normal” saline (NS) and balanced fluids (BF). BF have well-established biologic and physiologic advantages over NS and two recent adult trials found that BF reduced major adverse kidney events and mortality. However, in the absence of pediatric-specific data, NS resuscitation remains the overwhelming preference among pediatric emergency clinicians. We therefore propose the PRagMatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced versus NOrmaL Saline FlUid in Sepsis (PRoMPT BOLUS) study, a randomized, open-label, pragmatic comparative effectiveness trial, to test the relative effectiveness and safety of BF versus NS fluid resuscitation in children with suspected septic shock. Eighteen pediatric emergency departments in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN) will collaborate with sites in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to enroll 8,800 children with suspected septic shock. Eligible patients will be enrolled either through prospective informed consent or, after appropriate ethical safeguards, “Exception From Informed Consent” for emergency research. Subjects will be randomized to fluid resuscitation and maintenance fluids with either NS or BF for 24-48 hours, with all aspects of care other than fluid type at the discretion of the care team. Our primary outcome is major adverse kidney events within 30 days from randomization (MAKE30), a patient-centered composite endpoint that includes persistent kidney dysfunction, initiation of dialysis, or death. This outcome addresses the biological advantages of BF to preserve renal blood flow and function compared to NS. Secondary outcomes include the individual components of MAKE30, hospital-free days, length of stay, 90-day mortality, and specified safety events. This pragmatic trial will provide the definitive evidence necessary for a “paradigm shift” to move clinical practice from 0.9% saline to balanced fluid-based resuscitation in children with septic shock.

Project Narrative Septic shock is acute cardiovascular failure due to an infection that affects tens of thousands of children each year. Although crystalloid fluid resuscitation is the cornerstone of initial resuscitation, there is no definitive evidence for the most effective and safest type of crystalloid fluid in children. The objective of this large, pragmatic, randomized study is to test the comparative effectiveness of the two most common types of crystalloid to improve clinical outcomes in children treated for septic shock.