Does Serum Vitamin D Influence the Prognosis of Critically Ill Patients with Trauma? A Prospective, Observational Study in a Trauma Center

Abstract

Background: Vitamin D concentrations are associated with sepsis, pneumonia, and mortality in critically ill patients. However, the role of vitamin D in critically injured patients with trauma remains unknown. This study investigated the effects of vitamin D concentrations on outcomes in critically injured patients with trauma. Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted by randomly selecting 100 patients among those who visited our trauma center. The serum vitamin D concentration was measured upon arrival at the hospital, and the length of stay in a trauma intensive care unit after admission, duration of mechanical ventilation, number of days spent in the hospital, development of com-plications, and death were investigated. The association between the surveyed variables and vitamin D concentrations was investigated using regression analysis. Results: Of the 100 patients, 69 were men and 31 were women with an average age of 51.7 years. The average intensive care unit stay length was 18.4 days, and 6 patients (5.9%) died. Univariate regression analysis showed that the factors affecting patient mortality were age (p = 0.02), volume of blood transfused within 24 hours of arrival (p = 0.009), systolic blood pressure measured upon hospital arrival (p = 0.01), and serum lactate concentration measured upon hospital arrival (p = 0.03). Multivariate regression analysis showed that the factors affecting patient mortality were age (p = 0.01), volume of blood transfusion (p = 0.04), and systolic blood pressure measured upon hospital arrival (p = 0.01). Conclusions: There were no statistically significant effects of serum vitamin D concentrations in critically ill patients with trauma on death during hospitalization.