| Title | Risk factors for fever in critically ill patients with acute new-onset stroke. | | Author(s) | Yan F, Zhang D, Xu H, Guo H | | Institution | Department of Neurology, Zhongda Hospital, Southeast University, Nanjing 210009, China. | | Source | Neurol Res 2008 May; 30(4):394-9. | | Abstract | OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this project was to identify risk factors for fever among critically ill patients with acute new-onset stroke, treated in a neurological intensive care unit (NICU). The frequency and risk factors for fever in the stroke patients during the first 7 days after admission were retrospectively studied.
METHODS: Fever was defined as a patient's axillary temperature >37.5 degrees C in two separate measurements or >37.8 degrees C in one single measurement. Multivariable logistic regressions were applied to analyse the risk factors for any fever, explained infectious fever and unexplained fever. One hundred and thirty-seven patients were included in the final analysis.
RESULTS: Febrile episodes occurred in 65% (89/137) of the patients; 48.9% of the fever were explained by infection (predominantly pneumonia or bronchitis), and 15.3% were unexplained despite a complete diagnostic evaluation. Significant risk factors for any fever included age 65 years or older, impaired consciousness, extremity paralysis (muscle force </= grade 3), center venous catheterization and tracheal intubation. In addition to those risk factors, the length of the stay at NICU before the fever was also a significant risk factor for explained infectious fever. Brain midline shift and initial serum leucocyte count more than 12.0 x 10(9)/l were significant risk factors for unexplained fever.
CONCLUSION: These results suggest that critically ill and new-onset stroke patients treated in NICU often have fever. The risk factors for different types of fever vary considerably. | | Language | eng | | Pub Type(s) | Journal Article
| | PubMed ID | 18544258 |
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