Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Oct 5:11:1523-9.
doi: 10.2147/TCRM.S92829. eCollection 2015.

Acute gastrointestinal injury in the intensive care unit: a retrospective study

HuaiSheng Chen  1 , HuaDong Zhang  1 , Wei Li  1 , ShengNan Wu  1 , Wei Wang  2
Affiliations

Acute gastrointestinal injury in the intensive care unit: a retrospective study

HuaiSheng Chen et al. Ther Clin Risk Manag. .

Abstract

Background: Acute gastrointestinal injury (AGI) is a common problem in the intensive care unit (ICU). This study is a review of the gastrointestinal function of patients in critical care, with the aim to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of grading criteria developed by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) Working Group on Abdominal Problems (WGAP).

Methods: Data of patients who were admitted to the ICU of Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, People's Republic of China, from January 2010 to December 2011 were reviewed. A total of 874 patients were included into the current study. Their sex, age, ICU admissive causes, complication of diabetes, AGI grade, primary or secondary AGI, mechanical ventilation (MV), and length of ICU stay (days) were recorded as risk factors of death. These risk factors were studied by unconditioned logistic regression analysis.

Results: All the risk factors affected mortality rate. Unconditional logistic regression analysis revealed that the mortality rate of secondary AGI was 71 times higher than primary AGI (odds ratio [OR] 4.335, 95% CI [1.652, 11.375]). When the age increased by one year, the mortality probability would increase fourfold. Mortality in patients with MV was 63-fold higher than for patients with non-MV. Mortality rate increased 0.978 times with each additional day of ICU stay.

Conclusion: Secondary AGI caused by severe systemic conditions can result in worsened clinical outcomes. The 2012 ESICM WGAP AGI recommendations were to some extent feasible and effective in guiding clinical practices, but the grading system lacked the support of objective laboratory outcomes.

Keywords: acute gastrointestinal injury; critical care; mortality.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Survival and mortality rates among patients without AGI and with each grade AGI. Abbreviation: AGI, acute gastrointestinal injury.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Stefaniak J, Baron DM, Metnitz PG, Kramer L. Disturbances of gastrointestinal motility in intensive care units. Anasthesiol Intensivmed Notfallmed Schmerzther. 2010;45:696–706. German. - PubMed
    1. Fruhwald S, Holzer P, Metzler H. Gastrointestinal motility in acute illness. Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2008;120:6–17. German. - PubMed
    1. Piton G, Manzon C, Cypriani B, Carbonnel F, Capellier G. Acute intestinal failure in critically ill patients: is plasma citrulline the right marker? Intensive Care Med. 2011;37:911–917. - PubMed
    1. Shimizu K, Ogura H, Hamasaki T, et al. Altered gut flora are associated with septic complications and death in critically ill patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome. Dig Dis Sci. 2011;56:1171–1177. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Reintam Blaser A, Malbrain ML, Starkopf J, et al. Gastrointestinal function in intensive care patients: terminology, definitions and management. Recommendations of the ESICM Working Group on Abdominal Problems. Intensive Care Med. 2012;38:384–394. - PMC - PubMed