Nine surgical patients with severe sepsis were enrolled into the study: six patients underwent cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass, three patients with severe pancreatitis. The mean age was 50.8 ± 4.7 years. All patients required inotropic support, eight patients were on mechanical ventilation. The mean APACHE II score was 21.1 ± 3.8 points. Each patient received two LPS adsorption procedures (LPS-adsorber; Alteco Medical AB, Sweden). Each session takes 120 minutes. The blood flow rate was 100–150 ml/min, anticoagulation was heparin 4–10 U/kg/hour. In addition to routine tests, detection of LPS (LAL-test; Cembrex, USA), proinflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6 (IFA; Bends Med. Systems, Austria) and procalcitonin (PCT) concentrations (PCT LIA; BRAHMS AG, Germany) were performed. The data are expressed as the median and 25th and 75th percentiles and were compared by Mann–Whitney U test; P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.