Efficacy and Safety of a Second IVIG Dose for Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Data from a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial showed that, for patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome who responded poorly to intravenous immunoglobulin, a second dose is not effective and increases the risk for adverse events.

Some patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) continue to worsen clinically or don't show signs of improvement after receiving treatment with intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG). Therefore, up to 25% of patients with GBS receive a second dose of IVIG, without clear evidence to support this practice. In this phase 3, double-blind trial in the Netherlands, investigators randomized 99 patients aged ≥12 years with GBS with poor prognosis to receive a second dose of IVIG or placebo 7 to 9 days after receiving their first dose of IVIG.

The two groups did not differ significantly in either the primary outcome — GBS disability scale score 4 weeks after the start of IVIG treatment — or secondary outcomes, which included GBS disability score at 8, 12…

Reviewing Author

Mohammad Khoshnoodi, MD

Efficacy and Safety of a Second IVIG Dose for Guillain-Barré Syndrome

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Reviewing Author