Open AccessNeutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin as a biomarker for short-term outcomes among trauma patients: A single-center observational study
Author(s) -
S. Sakura Minami,
Takahiro Doi,
Takeru Abe,
Ichiro Takeuchi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0251319
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care unit , trauma center , biomarker , lipocalin , receiver operating characteristic , prospective cohort study , injury severity score , urinary system , cohort study , single center , area under the curve , observational study , severity of illness , cohort , major trauma , emergency medicine , retrospective cohort study , poison control , surgery , injury prevention , biochemistry , chemistry
Background Urinary biomarkers for organ dysfunction could predict the outcomes of severe trauma patients. However, the use of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) as a biomarker of trauma is not well studied. Objectives To evaluate the association between the short-term prognosis of trauma patients and NGAL levels. Methods We conducted a single center study and compared predictive performances between NGAL levels and the trauma severity. Results A total of 104 patients were included in the study. Patients were divided into two groups based on ISS score of 16. There was no significant difference in patient characteristics based on trauma severity. However, the lactate level was significantly higher in the more severe group. There was a significant association between urinary NGAL levels and trauma severity indicators, such as intensive care unit stay (ICU) (p = 0.005) and emergency care unit (ECU) stay (p = 0.049). In addition, receiver operating curve analysis showed that as a predictor, NGAL could be used for detecting severity with moderate precision, especially for short-term outcomes (specificity 70.6 for ICU and 69.0 for ECU stay). Conclusion In this study, we revealed that the level of NGAL could predict the degree of invasiveness in trauma patients with moderate precision and estimate the duration of treatment during the acute phase. It is necessary to examine the validity of the findings of this study using a prospective, cohort, and multi-center collaborative study design.