Are Stress-Dose Steroids Indicated in Patients with Adrenal Insufficiency Hospitalized with Noncritical, Nonsurgical Illness?

Limited data are available to support guidelines for glucocorticoid adjustment during acute, non-critical illness. Published guidelines vary both in illness categorization and category-specific recommendations (see Table 3, below).

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Figure 1: Normal production and regulation of cortisol secretion.

Coursin and Wood devised a set of guidelines based on a literature review and consultation with experts, categorizing medical illness as minor, moderate, severe, and critical (see Table 3).³ For noncritical illness, they recommended continuation of standard replacement therapy with an additional, once-daily dose, which varied according to illness severity.

Cooper and Stewart conducted a similar review, basing their guidelines on a categorization of mild, moderate, severe/critical, or septic shock. These guidelines recommended a total daily dose of glucocorticoid supplementation, rather than an addition of a single dose to current therapy. They also stated that the least severe category of illness (defined as mild) did not require any change to a patient’s regular therapy.⁴

Jung et al classified illness as minimal, minor, moderate, severe, and critical.⁹ Under these guidelines, supplemental therapy was not advised for minimal (nonfebrile) illness. Moderate illness, including cellulitis, warranted a doubling or tripling of the outpatient dose until recovery, which was consistent with prior expert recommendation. More severe illness warranted intravenous administration of steroids.

Figure 1: Normal production and regulation of cortisol secretion.

Back to the Case

The patient had a mild case of cellulitis, classified by most experts as moderate illness, which responded well to vancomycin. Her outpatient glucocorticoid dose was doubled on admission and administered orally for the duration of her hospitalization, as she had no further episodes of vomiting or diarrhea.

Review of the patient’s records from prior hospitalizations and ambulatory visits revealed that her systolic blood pressure typically ran in the 80 mmHg to 100 mmHg range. Following initial volume resuscitation, her systolic blood pressure remained in the 90-100 mmHg range.

She was discharged home in stable condition, with instructions to complete a course of oral trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, resume her baseline dose of hydrocortisone the day after discharge, and follow up with her PCP for further monitoring and adjustment of her adrenal replacement therapy.

Bottom Line

For adults with adrenal insufficiency hospitalized with noncritical, nonsurgical illness, the expert recommendation is to double or triple the usual outpatient dose of glucocorticoid; however, data to support this is limited, and each patient should be assessed carefully and monitored to determine the optimal dose adjustment. TH

Dr. Shaw is a resident in the Department of Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. Dr. Best is an assistant professor of medicine in the division of general internal medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine.

References

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