Frequency of Hyperlactatemia in Intensive Care Patients within Tertiary Care Hospital in Pakistan

Objective The aim of this study is to determine the frequency of hyperlactatemia in intensive care patients with sepsis in Civil Hospital Karachi. Method The cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital for six months and comprised all those participants who were older than 12 years of age, had sepsis, and were admitted in the intensive care unit (ICU) within 24 hours. Participants with suspected secondary acidemia from acute liver failure, end-stage renal disease, on anti-retroviral therapy, an overdose of salicylates, alcohols, acetaminophen, metformin user, intestinal resection, or bacterial overgrowth were excluded from the study. Arterial blood samples were collected for lactate levels by the researcher himself, within 24 hours of admission to the ICU. The samples were stored in fluoride tubes and were kept at around four-degree centigrade temperature to avoid any alteration in lactate levels. Demographic details, diagnoses, vitals (blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate) along with lactate levels and criteria for sepsis (including SIRS) of all patients were recorded in the proforma. Lactate level above 1.6 millimoles per liter (mmol/L) was taken as elevated (i.e. hyperlactatemia). SPSS version 16.0 was used for data analysis. Frequency and percentage were calculated for age categories, gender, and hyperlactatemia. Mean, and the standard deviation was calculated for the age of the patient and lactate levels. Effect modifiers were controlled through stratification for age, gender, co-morbidities, and duration of illness. p-value <= 0.05 was taken as significant. Results A total of 354 patients with sepsis were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 42.93 (+/- 19.03) years. Out of 354 patients, 169 (47.7%) were males, and 185 (52.3%) were females. Overall, the frequency of hyperlactatemia in intensive care patients with sepsis was 36.4%. The mean value of lactate was 1.963 mmol/L. With respect to stratification for age, hyperlactatemia was more frequent in the elderly patient population (47%) as compared to the young (31%) and middle (30%) aged patients with sepsis (p-value = 0.013). For gender, hyperlactatemia was more frequent in females (39%) than in males (33%). Concerning the duration of illness, hyperlactatemia was more frequent in those patients who were ill for more than one month (80%) than in those who were ill for less than seven days (30%) or 7 to 30-day period (36%) (p-value <0.001). Concerning co-morbidities, hypertension was the most common co-morbid condition in the study population (30%). Hyperlactatemia was significantly frequent in those patients who already had cardiac problem or stroke (66% [p value = 0.003] and 51% [p value = 0.013], respectively). Conclusion Hyperlactatemia is a common finding in patients with sepsis in an ICU. Being a marker of hypoxia, lactate level measurements can be of vital importance in a critical care setup, where they can be utilized to determine various factors such as mortality, morbidity, and duration of intensive care. Lactate levels thus should be evaluated in clinical studies, in correlation with various parameters more frequently. Lactate levels can also rise in various conditions apart from sepsis which merits further investigation.