Using Digestive Fluid Biomarkers to Predict Acute Gastrointestinal Injury in Critically Ill Patients: A Pilot Study

Trajectories of acute gastrointestinal injury grade in critically Ill children

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the characteristics of different Acute Gastrointestinal Injury (AGI) grading trajectories and examine their impact on prognosis in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

METHODS

This retrospective cohort study was conducted at a large children's hospital in China. The children admitted to the PICU were included. AGI grade was assessed every other day during the initial nine days following PICU admission.

RESULTS

A total of 642 children were included, of which 364 children (56.7%) exhibited varying degrees of gastrointestinal dysfunction (AGI grade ≥ 2). Based on the patterns of AGI grading over time, six groups were identified: low-stable group, low-fluctuating group, medium-decreasing group, medium-increasing group, high-decreasing group, high-persistent group. The high-persistent group accounted for approximately 90% of all recorded deaths. Compared to low-stable group, both the medium-increasing and high-persistent groups exhibited positive correlations with length of stay in PICU (PICU LOS) and length of stay (LOS). Compared to low-stable group, the five groups exhibited a negative correlation with the percentage of energy received by enteral nutrition (EN), as well as the protein received by EN.

CONCLUSION

This study identified six distinct trajectory groups of AGI grade in critically ill children. The pattern of AGI grade trajectories over time were associated with EN delivery proportions and clinical outcomes.

[Monitoring of gastrointestinal dysfunction by near-infrared spectroscopy in children with sepsis: a prospective study]

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal dysfunction in children with sepsis, the application of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in monitoring mesenteric regional tissue oxygen saturation (rSO2), and the association between rSO2 and gastrointestinal dysfunction.

METHODS

In this prospective study, 79 children with sepsis in the pediatric intensive care unit (sepsis group) and 40 children who underwent physical examination in the Department of Child Healthcare (healthy control group) from January to December, 2021 were enrolled as subjects. The related medical data were collected, including general information on admission and at discharge, treatment during hospitalization, and laboratory examination results. NIRS was used to measure mesenteric rSO2. Clinical characteristics were compared between the patients with and without gastrointestinal dysfunction.

RESULTS

For the 79 children with sepsis, the incidence rate of gastrointestinal dysfunction was 49% (39/79), and the mortality rate of the children with gastrointestinal dysfunction was 26% (10/39). The children with gastrointestinal dysfunction had a longer duration of mechanical ventilation and a higher 28-day mortality rate (P<0.05). The children with gastrointestinal dysfunction had a significantly lower median rSO2 (64%) than the children without gastrointestinal dysfunction (72%) and the healthy control group (78%) (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

There are high incidence and mortality rates of gastrointestinal dysfunction in children with sepsis, and the reduction in rSO2 may be associated with the development of gastrointestinal dysfunction.

Gastrointestinal failure score in children with traumatic brain injury

BACKGROUND

To review the value of the gastrointestinal failure (GIF) score in children with different degrees of traumatic brain injury (TBI) by analyzing the correlation between outcome and gastrointestinal function.

METHODS

A total of 165 children with TBI who were diagnosed and treated in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) for longer than 72 h between August 2017 and September 2019 were analyzed. Admission parameters included sex, age, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) score, body mass index (BMI), leukocyte count, C-reactive protein (CRP), hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Hct), blood glucose, lactic acid, procalcitonin (PCT), albumin, plasma osmotic pressure, prothrombin time (PT) and activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). To predict outcomes, the Pediatric Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, Pediatric Clinical Illness Score (PCIS), and mean GIF score for the first three days were combined.

RESULTS

The percentage of patients with gastrointestinal dysfunction on the first day was 78.8 %. Food intolerance (FI) and intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) developed in 36.4 and 21.8 % of the patients, respectively. The GIF score and mean GIF score for the first three days were significantly different between children with different degrees of TBI (P < 0.05); these scores were also significantly different between patients who died and those who survived (P < 0.05). The mean GIF score for the first three days was identified as an independent risk factor for mortality (odds ratio > 1, 95 % confidence interval = 1.457 to 16.016, P < 0.01), as was the PCIS. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis suggested that the mean GIF score for the first three days had the same calibrating power as the PCIS in discriminating the risk of death of children.

CONCLUSIONS

The incidence of gastrointestinal dysfunction in children with TBI is high. The GIF score has the ability to reflect the status of the gastrointestinal system. The mean GIF score for the first three days has high prognostic value for ICU mortality in the SICU.