ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Context. Estimation of intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay time (LOS) may be challenging, and proinflammatory 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.