Gastrointestinal manifestations of critical ill heatstroke patients and their associations with outcomes: A multicentre, retrospective, observational study

Table 4 Characteristics of the heatstroke patients with endotracheal intubation, according to received full enteral nutrition after intensive care unit admission or not¹

	All intubated patients (n = 439)	Full EN whether		P value
		Yes (n = 173)	No (n = 266)
Characteristic
Age, median (IQR), yr	71.0 (63.0-80.0)	72.0 (63.0-80.0)	71.0 (63.0-79.0)	0.801
Female sex, n (%)	197 (44.9)	81 (46.8)	116 (43.6)	0.509
GCS score at ICU admission, median (IQR)	4.0 (3.0-5.0)	6.0 (4.0-8.0)	5.0 (3.0-7.0)	0.002
NRS score at ICU admission, median (IQR)	4.0 (3.0-5.0)	4.5 (4.0-5.0)	4.0 (3.0-5.0)	0.193
Body temperature on admission
Patients, n (%)	439 (100.0)	173 (100.0)	266 (100.0)	—
Temperature, median (IQR), °C	41.0 (40.0-41.8)	41.0 (40.0-41.4)	41.0 (40.0-42.0)	0.128
Laboratory findings, median (IQR)
PaO2/FiO2 ratio	225.0 (135.5-306.5)	246.0 (191.0-334.0)	222.0 (134.0-315.0)	0.226
White-cell count, 109/L	11.7 (8.1-15.6)	12.6 (9.4-16.7)	11.4 (8.0-15.3)	0.287
Lymphocyte count, 109/L	1.7 (0.8-2.8)	0.8 (0.5-1.6)	2.0 (0.9-3.0)	0.084
Platelet count, 109/L	92.0 (56.0-138.0)	71.5 (37.0-113.8)	89.0 (54.0-132.5)	0.011
Hemoglobin, g/L	124.0 (109.0-139.0)	119.0 (107.5-129.0)	125.0 (110.0-140.0)	0.002
Albumin, g/L	35.3 (32.5-38.9)	32.0 (29.0-35.2)	35.5 (32.5-39.2)	< 0.001
GI symptoms2, n (%)
Total patients	85 (19.4)	25 (14.5)	60 (22.6)	0.036
Diarrhea	60 (13.7)	17 (9.8)	43 (16.2)	0.059
Flatulence	25 (5.7)	8 (4.6)	17 (6.4)	0.435
Nausea/vomiting	14 (3.2)	7 (4.0)	7 (2.6)	0.409
Bloody stools	8 (1.8)	0 (0.0)	8 (3.1)	0.021
Complications, n (%)
Disturbance of water and electrolyte	271 (61.7)	105 (60.7)	166 (62.4)	0.718
Rhabdomyolysis	81 (18.5)	20 (11.6)	55 (20.7)	0.013
Myocardial damage	216 (49.2)	83 (48.0)	133 (50.0)	0.678
Disseminated intravascular coagulation	172 (39.2)	60 (34.7)	112 (42.1)	0.119
Acute respiratory distress syndrome	226 (51.5)	92 (53.2)	134 (50.4)	0.566
Acute kidney injury	233 (53.1)	79 (45.7)	154 (57.9)	0.012
Acute liver function impairment	332 (75.6)	94 (54.3)	138 (51.9)	0.615
Central nervous system damage	206 (46.9)	80 (46.2)	126 (47.4)	0.817
Treatments
Use of continuous renal-replacement therapy, n (%)	34 (7.7)	14 (8.1)	20 (7.5)	0.826
Length of ICU stay, median (IQR), d	2.0 (1.0-3.0)	2.0 (1.0-2.0)	3.0 (1.0-4.0)	< 0.001
Clinical outcomes at data cutoff, n (%)
Hospital discharge	210 (47.8)	83 (48.0)	127 (47.7)	0.962
Death	123 (28.0)	29 (16.8)	94 (35.3)	< 0.001
Still hospitalization	78 (17.8)	46 (26.6)	82 (20.8)	0.339
Transferred to another hospital	28 (6.4)	15 (8.7)	13 (4.9)	0.113

¹The denominators of patients who were included in the analysis are provided if they differed from the overall numbers in the group. Percentages may not total 100 because of rounding.

²Nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, flatulence, or bloody stools are defined as gastrointestinal symptoms.

IQR: Interquartile range; GCS: Glasgow coma scale; NRS: Nutrition risk screening; GI: Gastrointestinal; ICU: Intensive care unit.