ISSN: 0970-938X (Print) | 0976-1683 (Electronic)
Biomedical Research
An International Journal of Medical Sciences
Research Article - Biomedical Research (2017) Volume 28, Issue 22
Influence of blood glucose level on incidence of pulmonary infection and prognosis in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction
Song Jianwei*, Yan Hanwen, Sheng Jie, Cai Jundan, Zhang Xiaojun and Wu Yun
Danyang People's Hospital of Jiangsu Province, PR China
Accepted date: November 27, 2017
Objective: To study the influence of blood glucose level on incidence of pulmonary infection and prognosis in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction, so as to provide valuable reference for clinical research.
Methods: 120 cases of diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction in our hospital from April 2011 to November 2016 were enrolled as the research objects and were randomized to observation group and control group, with 60 cases in each group. 2 h postprandial blood glucose was detected in all patients, blood glucose remained at 4.4 to 8.0 mmol/L in observation group and at 8.0 to 11.1 mmol/L in control group. Pulmonary infection and mortality were compared between the two groups, and the influence of blood glucose on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores and mortality rate were analysed.
Results: The incidence of pulmonary infection and mortality of observation group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant difference between the two groups on NIHSS, APACHE II, GCS scores (P>0.05). After 7 d of treatment, NIHSS, APACHE scores of patients in observation group were significantly lower than those of control group, while GCS score was significantly higher than control group (P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that age, duration of diabetes and blood glucose level were correlated with survival prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05).
Conclusion: Strict control of blood glucose level in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction can better reduce the incidence and mortality of pulmonary infection, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the prognosis of patients.
Keywords
Diabetes mellitus, Cerebral infarction, Blood glucose, Pulmonary infection, Prognosis, NIHSS, APACHE II, GCSD
Introduction
Diabetes is a kind of metabolic disease which is characterized by high blood glucose levels. Hyperglycemia is caused by defects in insulin secretion or in insulin function, and represents the metabolic abnormalities of sugar, protein and fat. Chronic illness can cause damages to multi-systems and can cause chronic progressive diseases on eye, kidney, nerve, heart and blood vessels. It can also cause functional disease and functional defects or failure [1]. Cerebral infarction is a focal neurological sign caused by reducing blood flow or blood supply interruption, cerebral ischemia and hypoxia and necrosis. It can result from vascular thickening luminal stenosis, occlusion and thrombosis which were caused by brain artery or cortical branches atherosclerosis and other factors [2]. The clinical manifestations of cerebral infarction are hemiplegia, aphasia, dysphagia and other manifestations. In recent years, patients with diabetes and cerebral infarction have increased year by year. Cerebral infarction is also a common chronic complication of diabetes mellitus [3]. Relevant data showed that [4] diabetes patients complicated with acute severe cerebral infarction is often critically ill. They often need complexed treatment and have neurological impairments and poor prognosis, which significantly increased the difficulty of clinical treatment. The research group found in clinical practice that for diabetes patients complicated with severe cerebral infarction, it is not only more difficult for them to be treated, they are more easily complicated with pulmonary infection and other complications, and the condition of cerebral infarction were more likely to progress. Therefore, we should actively control the severity of cerebral infarction combined with strict control of the blood glucose in the process of clinical treatment. Patients with severe cerebral infarction prone to present stress hyperglycemia [5], and it lacks clear standard for blood glucose control. In this study, we explored the influence of blood glucose level on incidence of pulmonary infection and prognosis in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction, so as to provide valuable reference for clinical research.
Data and Methods
General data
120 cases of diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction in our hospital from April 2011 to November 2016 were enrolled as the research objects, 68 males and 52 females, aged 46 to 72 y old with a mean age at (59.7 ± 1.4 y). Infarction Sites: 50 cases of medulla, 45 cases of pons and 25 cases of other parts (Table 1). Inclusion criteria: patients conformed by CT or MRI examinations; patients meet the diagnostic criteria for diabetes mellitus. Exclusive criteria: infection within 48 h of hospitalization, liver and kidney dysfunction, malignant tumor, blood and immune system diseases. Informed consents were signed by all patients. Patients were randomly divided into observation group and control group, with 60 cases in each group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in gender, age, infarction location and other general information at baseline.
| Group | N | Age | Gender | Infarction Sites | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | Female | Medulla | Pons | Other parts | |||
| Control | 60 | 59.3 ± 1.7 | 33 | 27 | 24 | 23 | 13 |
| Observation | 60 | 60.0 ± 1.2 | 35 | 25 | 26 | 22 | 12 |
| t | 0.593 | 0.478 | 0.396 | 0.685 | 0.456 | 0.369 | |
| P | >0.05 | >0.05 | >0.05 | >0.05 | >0.05 | >0.05 | |
Table 1: Comparisons on general data between the two groups.
Methods
After admission, all patients in 2 group were treated with regular medications, including maintaining airway patency and oxygen supplement; respiratory stimulants when necessary; tracheotomy or tracheal intubation for artificial ventilation; maintaining effective blood circulation and correcting shock; drugs reducing intracranial pressure such as 20% mannitol, furosemide and glycerol to patients with high intracranial pressure; side ventricle puncture drainage when necessary; controlling high blood pressure and high temperature; stopping twitch with diazepam or phenobarbital; correcting water and electrolyte imbalance; nutritional supplements; brain metabolism accelerants and awaking medicine, such as Xing Nao Jing or An Gong Niu Huang Wan; paying attention to oral, respiratory tract, urinary tract and skin care.
2 h postprandial blood glucose was detected in all patients, and insulin pump treatment was provided according to the patient's condition. 2 h postprandial blood glucose remained at 4.4 to 8.0 mmol/L in observation group and at 8.0 to 11.1 mmol/L in control group. Pulmonary infection and mortality were compared between the two groups, and the influence of blood glucose on the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores and mortality rate was analysed.
Statistical analysis
SPSS 21.0 statistical software was adopted for analysis. Measurement data were expressed as mean ± standard deviation, and comparisons between groups were conducted using t-test. Comparisons on enumeration data were conducted using Chi-Square test and P<0.05 was statistically significant.
Results
Comparisons on incidence of pulmonary infection and mortality between the two groups
The incidence of pulmonary infection and mortality of observation group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05), as shown in Table 2.
| Indexes | Control (n=60) | Observation (n=60) | χ2 | P | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | % | N | % | |||
| Pulmonary infection | 25 | 41.7 | 13 | 21.7 | 6.548 | 0.025 |
| Death | 17 | 28.3 | 8 | 13.3 | 5.061 | 0.034 |
Table 2: Comparisons on incidence and mortality of pulmonary infection between the two groups.
Comparisons on NIHSS, APACHE II and GCS scores between the two groups before and after treatment
Before treatment, there were no significant difference between the two groups on NIHSS, APACHE II, GCS scores (P>0.05). After 7 d of treatment, NIHSS, APACHE scores of patients in observation group were significantly lower than those of control group, while GCS score was significantly higher than control group (P<0.05), as shown in Table 3.
| Group | N | NIHSS | APACHE II | GCS | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | Before | After | Before | After | ||
| Control | 60 | 18.63 ± 1.29 | 12.26 ± 0.82 | 27.38 ± 1.94 | 17.46 ± 1.05 | 4.52 ± 1.24 | 5.34 ± 1.25 |
| Observation | 60 | 18.17 ± 1.33 | 10.08 ± 0.75 | 27.29 ± 1.61 | 13.57 ± 1.28 | 4.49 ± 1.17 | 7.16 ± 1.18 |
| t | 0.672 | 4.128 | 0.706 | 6.403 | 0.304 | 5.135 | |
| P | 0.374 | 0.012 | 0.425 | 0.018 | 0.416 | 0.021 | |
Table 3: Comparisons on NIHSS, APACHE II and GCS scores between the two groups before and after treatment.
Correlation analysis
The study included 120 cases of patients, with 25 cases of death, 95 cases of survival. Univariate analysis showed that age, duration of diabetes and blood glucose level were correlated with survival prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05), as shown in Tables 4 and 5.
| Factors | Study cases | Survival cases | Survival rate (%) | χ2 | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y) | 6.124 | 0.026 | |||
| <60 | 61 | 52 | 85.2 | ||
| ≥ 60 | 59 | 43 | 72.9 | ||
| Diabetes duration (y) | 5.763 | 0.029 | |||
| <5 | 42 | 30 | 71.4 | ||
| ≥ 5 | 78 | 65 | 83.3 | ||
| Hypertension | 1.159 | 0.375 | |||
| Yes | 66 | 52 | 78.8 | ||
| No | 54 | 43 | 79.6 | ||
| Blood glucose (mmol/L) | 7.414 | 0.017 | |||
| <8 | 60 | 52 | 86.7 | ||
| ≥ 8 | 60 | 43 | 71.7 | ||
| Smoking | 0.923 | 0.403 | |||
| Yes | 67 | 52 | 77.6 | ||
| No | 53 | 43 | 81.1 | ||
| Alcohol | 0.571 | 0.619 | |||
| Yes | 70 | 56 | 80 | ||
| No | 50 | 39 | 78 |
Table 4: Single factors influencing survival prognosis and survival rate of patients (%).
| Factors | Survive (n=95) | Death (n=25) | t | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (y) | 53.17 ± 3.25 | 62.31 ± 2.58 | 4.278 | 0.021 |
| Blood glucose (mmol/L) | 6.45 ± 0.81 | 9.76 ± 1.02 | 5.092 | 0.013 |
| Diabetes duration (y) | 3.53 ± 0.28 | 7.41 ± 0.62 | 4.945 | 0.016 |
Table 5: Correlations between relative factors and survival prognosis of patients.
Summary
The incidence of pulmonary infection and mortality of observation group were significantly lower than those of control group (P<0.05). Before treatment, there were no significant difference between the two groups on NIHSS, APACHE II, GCS scores (P>0.05). After 7 d of treatment, NIHSS, APACHE scores of patients in observation group were significantly lower than those of control group, while GCS score was significantly higher than control group (P<0.05). Univariate analysis showed that age, duration of diabetes and blood glucose level were correlated with survival prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). Strict control of blood glucose level in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction can better reduce the incidence and mortality of pulmonary infection, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the prognosis of patients.
Discussion
Patients with severe cerebral infarction have obvious stress reaction in the early stage, which results in obviously increased blood glucose level, decreased resistance, increased bacterial colonization, and increased probability of pulmonary infection. Pulmonary infection is the most common complication in patients with cerebral infarction and is also the most common cause of death [6]. Previous studies have shown that [7], consciousness disorders, dysphagia, hypertension, diabetes history are independent risk factors for pulmonary infection in patients with cerebral infarction. There were few studies on the control of blood sugar level which may affect the pulmonary infection and mortality in diabetic patients with severe cerebral infarction. Strict control of blood glucose can effectively reduce the mortality rate of stroke. Blood glucose increased significantly in the acute phase of severe cerebral infarction, which will bring bad prognosis [8]. If the blood glucose of stroke patients increases continuously, the pulmonary infection rate and fatality rate will increase obviously. Another study showed that [9] aging red blood cells will continue to increase with increased aggregation and brittle when blood glucose elevated. Blood flow velocity in the infarcted area of the collateral circulation will continue to slow down if there was infarction existing in larger vessels, causing the red cell sedimentation or broken and the infarction area increasing continuously, and increased the severity of brain edema at the same time. Based on the points of view above, in the treatment of diabetic patients with severe cerebral infarction in the process, we must strictly control the patient's blood glucose levels to reduce the lung infection rate and mortality rate [10]. However, it is very difficult to reduce the mortality of patients with stroke, even with relatively strict control of blood glucose within 90 d [11]. Therefore, it is necessary to study the level of blood glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction.
In this study, patients with blood glucose at 4.4-8.0 mmol/L were set as observation group, while patients with blood glucose at 8.0-11.1 mmol/L were set as control group, pulmonary infection and mortality of patients at different levels of glucose were analysed in diabetes patients complicated with severe with cerebral infarction. The study found that pulmonary infection incidence and mortality rates were significantly lower in observation group than that of control group (P<0.05). Severity of stroke at admission is assessed by NIHSS score, APACHE II score is calculated to determine systemic severity of illness and GCS is used to assess the conscious state [12]. NIHSS, APACHE II and GCS scores in observation group after 7 days of treatment were significantly better than control group (P<0.05). Control of the blood glucose at 4.4-8.0 mmol/L can better reduce the pulmonary infection and mortality. Possible reasons are as follows: there is insulin resistance at stress state in patients with severe cerebral infarction, patients prone to have acute inflammatory response syndromes, which can stimulate hyperglycemia. There is insulin resistance in diabetes itself, so blood glucose increased more significantly, and is more difficult to control [13]. For diabetes patients complicated with severe cerebral infarction, when the body is in high glucose condition, it can stimulate the protein kinase C pathway activation, and promote the secretion of inflammatory cytokines, so as to increase systemic inflammatory responses [14]. At the same time, as diabetes patients with severe cerebral infarction need long-term bedridden and respiratory secretions cannot be ruled out in time, which provide a hotbed for pathogenic bacteria infection and increase the risk of pulmonary infection. In addition, when the body blood glucose rises, the aging red blood cells increase and are more prone to aggregating. Brittle also increase as red cells age [15,16]. Therefore, when severe cerebral infarction occurs to diabetic patients, it will further exacerbate the blood silt resistance and lead to red cell disruption, eventually leading to the expansion of the infarct size and progressive brain edema, endangering the lives of patients. After further analyzing the factors affecting the survival of patients, we also found that age, duration of diabetes and blood glucose levels were correlated with survival prognosis, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). In the treatment of diabetic patients with severe cerebral infarction, we should attach great importance of the above factors on the prognosis of patients.
In conclusion, strict control of blood glucose in patients with diabetes mellitus complicated with severe cerebral infarction can better reduce the incidence of pulmonary infection and mortality of patients, so as to achieve the purpose of improving the prognosis of patients.
References
- Chimkode SM, Kumaran SD, Kanhere VV. Effect of yoga on blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. J Clin Diagn Res 2015; 9: 1-3.
- Gang L, Man S W, Xiong MZQ. Circulating microRNAs in delayed cerebral infarction after aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. J Am Heart Assoc 2017; 6: 005363.
- Meng Q, Wang J, Wang Z. A study on the risk factors of cerebral infarction as complication of type 2 diabetes mellitu patients. Zhonghua Liu Xing Bing Xue Za Zhi 2001; 22: 208-211.
- Park TK, Yang JH, Choi SH. Clinical outcomes of patients with acute myocardial infarction complicated by severe refractory cardiogenic shock assisted with percutaneous cardiopulmonary support. Yonsei Med J 2014; 55: 920-927.
- Ishii H, Ichimiya S, Kanashiro M. Effects of intravenous nicorandil before reperfusion for acute myocardial infarction in patients with stress hyperglycemia. Diab Care 2006; 29: 202-206.
- Nakaoka T, Sada T, Kira Y. Risk factors for the complication of cerebral infarction in Japanese patients with acute myocardial infarction. Japan Heart J 1989; 30: 635-643.
- Hamidon BB, Nabil I, Raymond AA. Risk factors and outcome of dysphagia after an acute ischaemic stroke. Med J Malay 2006; 61: 553-557.
- Yang B, Chen W, Chen Y. Effect of blood glucose level in acute stage on the short-term prognosis of patients with cerebral infarction. China Foreign Med Treat 2014; 23: 62-63.
- Sagoo RS, Hutchinson CE, Wright A. Magnetic resonance investigation into the mechanisms involved in the development of high-altitude cerebral edema. J Int Soc Cereb Blood Flow Metabol 2017; 37: 319-331.
- Meyfroidt G, Keenan DM, Wang X. Dynamic characteristics of blood glucose time series during the course of critical illness: effects of intensive insulin therapy and relative association with mortality. Crit Care Med 2010; 38: 1021-1029.
- Kirkham S, Akilen R, Sharma S. The potential of cinnamon to reduce blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Diab Obes Metabol 2009; 11: 1100-1113.
- Wei Q, Xiaoyu Z, Shuna Y. Risk factors for multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in severe stroke patients. PLoS One 2016; 11: 0167189.
- Aversa A, Bruzziches R, Francomano D. Testosterone and phosphodiesterase type-5 inhibitors: new strategy for preventing endothelial damage in internal and sexual medicine? Ther Adv Urol 2009; 1: 179-197.
- Barletta JF, Figueroa BE, Deshane R. High glucose variability increases cerebral infarction in patients with spontaneous subarachnoid hemorrhage. J Crit Care 2013; 28: 798-803.
- Kazuhiro N, Yoshiyuki H, Shiho T. Relationship between carotidintima-media thickness and silent cerebral infarction in Japanese subjects with type 2 diabetes. Diab Care 2010; 33: 168-170.
- Kumar D, Agarwal S, Karoli R. Relationship between carotid intima thickness and silent cerebral infarction in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy. J Assoc Phys India 2014; 62: 316-322.