Abstract: AIM To study the effect of metaraminol on the renal function in the patients with septic shock. METHODS Seventy patients with septic shock, who had been admitted into ICU of Department of Anesthesiology, Xijing Hospital since 1995 were enrolled in this study. The dosage of metaraminol had been adjusted to maintain the stability of arterial blood pressure for all the patients with septic shock according to the changes in their conditions. Based on the dosage of metaraminol used clinically and our experiences, all the patients were divided into three groups: Group A had 23 cases with the biggest infusing rate of 0.5~5 μg/(kg·min) during antishock therapy, Group B had 23 cases with the biggest infusing rate of 6~10 μg/(kg·min), and Group C had 24 cases with the biggest infusing rate of >11 μg/(kg·min). APACHE III scoring was made for all the patients before the antishock therapy, and the changes in arterial blood pressure, heart rate (HR), urinary output, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine (CRE), urinary albumin (ALB) and β2microglobulin (β2MG) were recorded. RESULTS Before the antishock therapy, the APACHE III scoring in Group B was higher than that in Group A, but lower than that in Group C (P<0.01). The levels of BUN, CRE, urine ALB and β2MG output were abnormally high in all the patients, but with no statistical significance among the three groups. After the antishock therapy, the urine output, BUN, CRE, urine ALB and β2MG output gradually decreased compared with those before treatment (P<0.01) but with no statistical significance among the three groups. CONCLUSION Metaraminol promotes the restoration of the abnormal renal function in patients with septic shock, which is related to the hemodynamic stability and not the dosage of metaraminol used.