Investigation of the Relationship between Blood Gas Parameters and Thirty-day Mortality in Elderly Patients Diagnosed with Sepsis

Abstract

Introduction:Although sepsis is one of the most important causes of death in hospitalized patients, information on early predictive factors for predicting mortality and morbidity is limited. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between defined arterial blood gas parameters and 30-day mortality in adult patients aged 65 years and older who were admitted to the emergency department and diagnosed with sepsis.Methods:Arterial blood gas parameters of patients older than 65 years who were diagnosed with sepsis in the emergency department during the 5-month period between March and August 2017 were analyzed retrospectively. The relationship between pH, lactate, anion gap, bicarbonate and base-excess and 30-day mortality was analyzed.Results:A total of 103 elderly patients with sepsis were included in the study. Fifty-eight patients (56.3%) were female and the mean age was 77.74±8.45 years (range: 65-99 years). Twenty-two patients (21.4%) died within 30 days. The admission “Quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment” values were found to be 2 or more in 32 patients (31.1%). Bicarbonate (p=0.001), lactate (p<0.001), anion gap (p=0.007) and base-excess (p=0.001) values were found to be significantly associated with 30-day mortality.Conclusion:In our study, we found that the levels of lactate, bicarbonate, anion gap and base-excess in arterial blood gas were associated with 30-day mortality in elderly patients diagnosed with sepsis. These parameters should be closely monitored in septic patients. Monitoring of these parameters may help early clinical decision-making in emergency department patients with sepsis and may affect the outcome of sepsis.

Keywords

• Blood gas analysis
• mortality
• sepsis
• elderly patient