Correlation between gastrointestinal dysfunction and both severity and prognosis in patients suffering from heatstroke

Abstract

To investigate the relationship between gastrointestinal dysfunction and both severity and prognosis in patients with heatstroke ( HS ). A retrospective analysis was conducted. Clinical data from 39 patients with HS seeking for treatment in Department of Critical Care Medicine of Chinese PLA General Hospital from January 2013 to September 2014 were enrolled. The patients were divided into two groups: gastrointestinal dysfunction group and non-gastrointestinal dysfunction group. The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II ( APACHEII) score within 24 hours of admission and 28-day mortality were compared between two groups. In gastrointestinal dysfunction group, the gastrointestinal dysfunction score, the duration days of gastrointestinal dysfunction, the length of intensive care unit ( ICU ) stay, and the duration of mechanical ventilation were collected. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationship between gastrointestinal function and the severity of the ailment as well as the prognosis. Among 39 patients with HS, 32 of them showed gastrointestinal dysfunction with an incidence of 82.05%. In gastrointestinal dysfunction group, the gastrointestinal dysfunction score was 2.3±0.8, the duration of gastrointestinal dysfunction was ( 17.3±15.2 ) days, the length of ICU stay was ( 37.8±25.0 ) days, and the duration of mechanical ventilation was ( 27.8±14.0 ) days. APACHEII score in gastrointestinal dysfunction group was significantly higher than that of the non-gastrointestinal dysfunction group ( 26.30±6.00 vs. 17.40±6.00, t = 3.555, P = 0.001 ). The 28-day mortality in gastrointestinal dysfunction group was slightly higher than that of the non-gastrointestinal dysfunction group without statistically significant difference [ 43.75% ( 14/32 ) vs. 14.29% ( 1/7 ), P = 0.216 ]. It was shown by Pearson analysis that gastrointestinal dysfunction score was positively correlated with APACHEII score ( r = 0.727, P = 0.000 ), and the duration of gastrointestinal dysfunction was positively correlated with the length of ICU stay ( r = 0.797, P = 0.000 ) and the duration of mechanical ventilation ( r = 0.634, P = 0.000 ). The results suggest that gastrointestinal function in patients with HS reflects the severity and prognosis of the ailment.