RESUMO
Objective: To determine the frequency of hyperglycemia in critically ill children admitted in PICU of a tertiary care hospital of Karachi and to compare the mortality of critically ill children with and without hyperglycemia
Study Design: Cross-sectional study
Place and Duration of Study: Paediatrics Intensive Care Unit [PICU] of National Institute of Child Health [NICH], Karachi, from November 2011 to April 2012
Methodology: One hundred fifty critically ill children admitted to PICU were included. Patients who had fasting blood sugar levels more than 126 mg/dl within 48 hours of admission were included in the hyperglycemic group. The normoglycemic and hyperglycemic groups were followed till 10 days to determine the mortality associated with hyperglycemia
Results: Out of 150 patients, 82 [54.7%] had hyperglycemia. Mortality rate was 48.7% [n=73/150]. However, mortality rate was significantly high 57.3% [n=47] in hyperglycemic patients than non-hyperglycemic patients [p=0.019]
Conclusion: The presence of stress-induced hyperglycemia in critically ill patients is a well established marker of poor outcome, and a very high mortality rate. Normoglycemia was associated with favorable outcomes in terms of hospital stay and mortality