There was an 8-hour time window from shock onset to check for eligibility and to perform a short ACTH test (blood samples before and 30 and 60 min after a 250 µg intravenous bolus of tetracosactrin). Patients were then randomly assigned to receive 50 mg hydrocortisone as an intravenous bolus every 6 hours and one 50 µg tablet of fludrocortisone through a nasogastric tube once a day, or their respective placebos. Treatments were given for 7 days, and patients were followed up for 1 year.