Rationale:~Critically ill patients with trauma or sepsis exhibit a high degree of vitamin C deficiency at ICU admission and vitamin C plasma concentrations decrease even more during the first three days of admission. Vitamin C is a natural anti-oxidant and crucial for endothelial and organ protection~Objective:~To determine the pharmacokinetics of two high dose regimens of intravenous vitamin C in critically ill patients, in particular the attained plasma concentration and the fraction retained in the body and excreted in urine.~Study design:~Prospective randomized controlled pharmacokinetic intervention study~Study population:~Adult critically ill patients admitted to the ICU of the VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, with sepsis or SIRS after major surgery or trauma with a non-neurological sequential organ failure (SOFA) score >6 and an expected length of ICU stay of >96 hours.~Intervention (if applicable):~Patients will receive either 2 or 10 gram/day vitamin C intravenously twice daily for two days in bolus or continuous infusion.
The purpose of this study is to determine the pharmacokinetic properties of two different dosage regimens of intravenous vitamin C in patients admitted to the Intensive Care Unit with life-threatening illness.