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Can vitamin c shorten dangerous blood pressure drops after heart surgery?
NCT ID NCT06723626
First seen Sep 16, 2026 · Last updated Sep 17, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
Researchers are testing whether intravenous vitamin C helps patients whose blood pressure stays dangerously low after heart surgery, a condition called vasoplegia syndrome. The trial enrolls 40 adults who develop this problem within six hours of arriving in intensive care. Half receive standard care with fluids and blood pressure drugs, and half receive the same standard care plus vitamin C infusions every six hours for four doses. The team measures how long patients need blood pressure support and checks blood flow under the tongue to see if vitamin C improves circulation.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- intravenous vitamin C
- What this could lead to
- If it works, intravenous vitamin C could become a simple, low-cost addition to standard care that helps patients recover faster after heart surgery.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small pilot study of 40 people, so any hint of benefit may not hold up in larger trials. Vitamin C can also cause problems in some patients, and it may not affect the underlying causes of vasoplegia.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
-
Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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40 people
The number who actually took part.
- Started
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Jul 2024
- Finished
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Aug 2026
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 85 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Age 18-85 years; * Patients who develop vasoplegia syndrome within 6 hours after being admitted to the ICU following cardiac surgery * Signing informed consent. Exclusion criteria included: * Emergency surgery; * Sepsis shock, postoperative cardiogenic shock or hemorrhagic shock; * Pregnancy or lactation; * Allergy to vitamin C; * Inability to obtain clear sublingual microcirculatory images due to any cause; * Judgment by the attending physician that the patient was unsuitable for enrollment.
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Zhongda Hospital Southeast University
Nanjing, Jiangsu, 210009, China
More trials for these conditions
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