SAPS III or APACHE IV: Which score to choose for acute trauma patients in intensive care unit?

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Simplified Acute Physiology Score (SAPS) III and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) IV in the prediction of in-hospital mortality in surviving multi-trauma patients. METHODS: This study was conducted in the 13-bed intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary hospital. A retrospective review of multi-trauma patients whose care was managed in the ICU was performed. Data collection included details of age, gender, ICU admission, and outcome. APACHE IV and SAPS III scores, as well as the predicted mortality rate (PMR), were calculated using web-based calculators. RESULTS: Of the 90 patients 20% (n=18) were female and 80% (n=72) were male. The overall mortality rate was 25.6%. The mean APACHE IV, Acute Physiology Score (APS) and SAPS III score was 69.27+-34.51, 66.42+-33.72, and 26.36+-27.14, respectively. The mean PMR according to the APACHE IV and the SAPS III was 26.36+-27.14 and 17.07+-24.88, respectively. The area under the curve result of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was 0.87 for the APACHE IV and 0.93 for the SAPS III. CONCLUSION: The performance of the SAPS III was more sensitive and discriminative than the APACHE IV scoring system for multi-trauma ICU patients.

Determination of colistin-related nephrotoxicity and risk factors in intensive care unit.

OBJECTIVE: Colistin is a cationic polypeptide antibiotic with a cyclic structure that belongs to the polymyxin group. It was banned from clinical use because of its significant renal side effects, such as nephrotoxicity. However, the administration of colistin has recently been initiated again in the treatment of multi-drug resistant pathogens, such as Acinetobacter baumannii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Nephrotoxicity and neurotoxicity are the main problems encountered in the clinical use of polymyxins. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and risk factors of colistin-related nephrotoxicity in the adult intensive care unit (ICU). METHODS: In this study, a retrospective review of patients who were followed up between January 1 and December 31, 2016 and who received colistin treatment in the adult ICU was performed. Retrospective computer records of age, sex, site of infection and microorganism breeding, daily creatinine values, and additional diseases were recorded and examined. Nephrotoxicity was assessed using the Risk, Injury, Failure, Loss, and End-stage kidney disease criteria. RESULTS: A total of 48 patients were included in the study. Of these, 50% were male. The mean age of the patients with nephrotoxicity was 59.73±22.38 years, and the mean age of those without nephrotoxicity was 58.00±22.39 years. A. baumanni was observed to be the causative microorganism in all patients, and the most frequent infection was pneumonia. Nephrotoxicity was investigated in 54.2% (n=26) of the patients. In this study, when risk factors for nephrotoxicity were evaluated, it was found that the presence of nephrotoxicity was greater in cases with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, malignancy, or abdominal surgery in patients older than 65 years. In addition, mortality was greater in those who developed nephrotoxicity, although it was not statistically significant. CONCLUSION: In this study, the rate of nephrotoxicity was 54.2% in patients who received colistin in the ICU. Therefore, patients in the adult ICU receiving colistin therapy should be carefully monitored for the development of nephrotoxicity as a side effect.