PLASMA INTERLEUKIN-6 LEVELS MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE LENGTH OF STAY TIME OF ADULT HYPERGLYCEMIC PATIENTS IN AN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT.

CONTEXT

Estimation of intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay time (LOS) may be challenging, and pro-inflammatory cytokines can be used as a marker for this purpose.

OBJECTIVE

The current study aimed to investigate the association between pro-inflammatory cytokine levels and LOS in hyperglycemic patients admitted to adult ICU.

DESIGN

This is a prospective observational study.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

All adult ICU patients with a blood glucose level higher than 250 mg/dL, during the study period were included. Hospitalization day demographics were recorded, and plasma IL-6, IL1-ß, and TNF-α concentrations were measured.

RESULTS

A total of 74 patients were enrolled in the study. Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) was positive in 31 patients, and the remaining 43 were in the non-DKA (NDKA) group. There was no difference between the two groups in terms of age, gender, LOS, hemoglobin, hematocrit, lactate levels, and platelets count. IL-6, IL-1ß, and TNF-α levels did not show any difference between DKA and NDKA groups (p=0.784, 0.413, and 0.288, respectively). There was a positive correlation between IL-6 levels and LOS (n=74, Pearson correlation=0.330; p=0.004).

CONCLUSIONS

Among pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-6 showed a better performance for the prediction of LOS than IL-1ß, TNF-α, and CRP.