Systemic tolerance of intravenous milrinone administration for cerebral vasospasm secondary to non-traumatic subarachnoid hemorrhage

Purpose Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a severe subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) complication, closely related to cerebral vasospasm (CVS). CVS treatment frequently comprises intravenous milrinone, an inotropic and vasodilatory drug. Our objective is to describe milrinone's hemodynamic, respiratory and renal effects when administrated as treatment for CVS. Methods Retrospective single-center observational study of patients receiving intravenous milrinone for CVS with systemic hemodynamics, oxygenation, renal disorders monitoring. We described these parameters' evolution before and after milrinone initiation (day – 1, baseline, day 1 and day 2), studied treatment cessation causes and assessed neurological outcome at 3–6 months. Results Ninety-one patients were included. Milrinone initiation led to cardiac output increase (4.5 L/min [3.4–5.2] at baseline vs 6.6 L/min [5.2–7.7] at day 2, p < 0.001), Mean Arterial Pressure decrease (101 mmHg [94–110] at baseline vs 95 mmHg [85–102] at day 2, p = 0.001) norepinephrine treatment requirement increase (32% of patients before milrinone start vs 58% at day 1, p = 0.002) and slight PaO2/FiO2 ratio deterioration (401 [333–406] at baseline vs 348 [307–357] at day 2, p = 0.016). Milrinone was interrupted in 8% of patients. 55% had a favorable outcome. Conclusion Intravenous milrinone for CVS treatment seems associated with significant impact on systemic hemodynamics leading sometimes to treatment discontinuation.