Table 1.
Characteristics of critically ill adults who received 2.5 g (standard dose) or 5 g (high dose) rikkunshito three times daily
| Control group (n = 9) | Standard‐dose group (n = 8) | High‐dose group (n = 9) | P‐value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age, years; median (IQR) | 70 (57–75) | 73 (71–79) | 82 (70–85) | 0.15 |
| Male, n (%) | 6 (67) | 4 (50) | 8 (89) | 0.25 |
| Body weight, kg; median (IQR) | 65 (57–70) | 57 (46–79) | 65 (47–69) | 0.67 |
| ICU admission route, n (%) | ||||
| Emergency department | 8 (89) | 8 (100) | 9 (100) | 1.00 |
| Operating room | 1 (11) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | |
| Reason for ICU admission, n (%) | ||||
| Sepsis | 2 (22) | 4 (50) | 5 (56) | 0.31 |
| Trauma | 4 (44) | 3 (38) | 1 (11) | |
| Neurologic disease | 2 (22) | 0 (0) | 1 (11) | |
| Others | 1 (11) | 1 (11) | 2 (22) | |
| APACHE II score at ICU admission, median (IQR) | 23 (20–26) | 21 (16–30) | 23 (17–28) | 0.94 |
| Chronic diagnosis included in APACHE II score, n (%) | ||||
| Chronic hemodialysis | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (11) | 1.00 |
| Others | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1.00 |
| SOFA score at ICU admission, median (IQR) | 6 (4–10) | 6 (4–8) | 8 (5–12) | 0.48 |
Between‐group comparisons were undertaken using the Kruskal–Wallis test for continuous variables and Fisher's exact test for categorical variables.
APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation; ICU, intensive care unit; IQR, interquartile range; SOFA, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.