Table 1.
Baseline characteristics and clinical outcomes of patients subdivided for EA levels measured at baseline (T0).
| All patients (n = 60) | High EA at T0 (EA ≥ 0.54, n = 31) | Low EA at T0 (EA < 0.54, n = 29) | p value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics | ||||
| Age, years (median, IQR) | 68.5 [59.6–77.0] | 71.0 [60.0–78.0] | 67.0 [57.0–74.0] | 0.39 |
| Sex, Male, n (%) | 31 (51.7%) | 16 (51.6%) | 15 (51.7%) | 0.99 |
| Underlying malignancy, n (%) | 26 (43.3%) | 13 (41.9%) | 13 (44.8%) | 0.82 |
| Disease severity | ||||
| SOFA score (median, IQR) | 6.0 [2.0–12.0] | 9.0 [6.8–15.3] | 2.0 [1.3–4.8] | < 0.001 |
| APACHE II (median, IQR) | 12.0 [8.0–22.5] | 19.0 [12.0–30.3] | 9.5 [6.0–11.0] | < 0.001 |
| Indications for surgery, n (%) | ||||
| Bowel perforation | 36 (60.0%) | 23 (74.2%) | 13 (44.8%) | 0.02 |
| Cancer-related problem | 13 (21.7%) | 2 (6.5%) | 11 (37.9%) | 0.004 |
| Bowel ischemia | 7 (11.7%) | 5 (16.1%) | 2 (6.9%) | 0.43 |
| Others | 4 (6.7%) | 1 (3.2%) | 3 (10.3%) | 0.35 |
| Duration of surgery, min (mean, ± SD) | 199 ± 104 | 178 ± 83 | 220 ± 120 | 0.13 |
| Type of isolated microorganism | ||||
| No. of samples available | 49 (81.7%) | 26 (84.9%) | 23 (79.3%) | 0.65 |
| No growth | 18 (36.7%) | 5 (19.2%) | 13 (56.5%) | 0.007 |
| Gram negative | 9 (18.4%) | 5 (19.2%) | 4 (17.4%) | > 0.99 |
| Gram positive | 8 (16.3%) | 7 (26.9%) | 1 (4.3%) | 0.052 |
| Fungi | 2 (4.1%) | 1 (3.8%) | 1 (4.3%) | > 0.99 |
| Mixed | 12 (24.5%) | 8 (30.8%) | 4 (17.4%) | 0.33 |
| Laboratory test on admission | ||||
| White blood cell count (103/mL) | 10.2 [3.8–14.2] | 6.9 [2.9–15.0] | 11.9 [7.5–14.1] | 0.17 |
| Platelet counts (103/mL) | 159 [74–214] | 102 [57–176] | 201 [159–306] | 0.001 |
| Hemoglobin (g/dL) | 10.1 [8.8–11.3] | 9.4 [8.4–10.5] | 11.1 [9.7–12.0] | 0.03 |
| Prothrombin time (%) | 53.4 [37.3–75.0] | 42.0 [31.1–56.0] | 69.4 [53.1–86.9] | < 0.001 |
| Lactate (mmol/L) | 4.1 [1.7–6.5] | 4.6 [3.3–6.6] | 2.2 [1.3–6.1] | 0.006 |
| Septic shock, n (%) | 43 (71.7%) | 29 (93.5%) | 14 (48.3%) | < 0.001 |
| PMX-HP therapy, n (%) | 23 (38.3%) | 16 (51.6%) | 7 (24.1%) | 0.06 |
| Clinical outcomes | ||||
| In-hospital death, n (%) | 18 (30.0%) | 14 (45.2%) | 4 (13.8%) | 0.01 |
| Length of ICU stay, day (median, IQR) | 3.0 [1.0–8.0] | 4.0 [2.0–10.0] | 2.0 [1.0–7.0] | 0.08 |
| EA level, units (median, IQR) | ||||
| T0 | 0.62 [0.43–0.71] | 0.69 [0.67–.077] | 0.40 [0.30–0.48] | < 0.001 |
| T24 | 0.44 [0.32–0.59] | 0.54 [0.38–0.68] | 0.35 [0.25–0.45] | < 0.001 |
| T48 | 0.39 [0.20–0.62] | 0.50 [0.25–0.64] | 0.35 [0.18–0.45] | 0.046 |
| SOFA score (median, IQR) | ||||
| T0 | 6.0 [2.0–12.0] | 10.0 [7.0–16.0] | 2.0 [1.5–5.5] | < 0.001 |
| T24 | 5.0 [1.0–12.0] | 8.0 [5.8–14.3] | 1.0 [0.0–6.0] | < 0.001 |
| T48 | 4.0 [1.0–11.0] | 8.0 [4.5–14.0] | 1.0 [0.0–5.5] | < 0.001 |
| T72 | 4.0 [1.0–9.0] | 6.0 [3.0–13.3] | 1.0 [0.0–6.5] | 0.001 |
APACHE Acute physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation, EA Endotoxin activity, ICU Intensive care unit, IQR Inter-quartile range, PMX-HP Polymyxin B-hemoperfusion, SD Standard deviation, SOFA Sequential Organ Failure Assessment.
Significant values are in [italics].