| Popis: |
Markers of infection like fever, high C-reactive protein (CRP) and leukocytosis may be associated with noninfectious causes which includes trauma, surgical operations and inflammations. As the patients in intensive care units are subjected to multiple inflammatory stimuli, the diagnosis of intensive care unit-acquired infections is difficult. The aim of this prospective study was detection of the value of CRP, white blood cell (WBC) count and body temperature (Tmax) for the diagnosis of intensive care unit-acquired infections. The patients staying for more than 72 hours in intensive care unit and had no infection during admission were included in the study. Tmax, WBC count and CRP values were compared between infected and noninfected patient groups. Sixty-seven patients included in the study. Of these patients, 31 were in infected group and 36 were in noninfected group. In univariate analysis, CRP and Tmax were significantly higher in infected patients (p< 0.05). ROC curves were outlined for CRP, Tmax and WBC. The largest area under the curve was detected for CRP (p< 0.05). The presence of CRP > 50 mg/L yielded sensitivity as 75% and specificity 96.3%. After development of infection, the increase in CRP and Tmax was statistically significant, in contrast to WBC. For 27 (87.1%) infected patients, increase in CRP levels was greater than 25%. In conclusion, this study suggested that CRP is the most useful parameter between body temperature, leukocyte count and CRP for the diagnosis of intensive care unit-acquired infections. According to this result it may be suggested that rutine measurement of CRP levels in intensive care units and follow up of the changes in the serum concentration of CRP are useful for the diagnosis of infection. |
