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Document Type

Original Article

Abstract

Introduction: The cause of demise in GBS may be related to the sequelae of complications associated with the disease or its treatment. The primary objective of this study was to enumerate the prevalence of complications associated with treatment of patients with GBS at a tertiary care setup in Islamabad. The secondary objective was to determine the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of commonly encountered infections in GBS during hospital stay in our setup. Materials and methods: The study was carried out between Jan 2014 and June 2015 on one hundred patients of GBS aged ≥ 12 years. Baseline characteristics, complications and antibiotic sensitivity patterns were recorded. Results: Major complication exclusively in plasma exchange group was that of hypoalbuminemia (22, 22%) and large venous catheter infections (6, 6%). None had IVIG related complications. Respiratory tract infections were predominantly experienced by those admitted in ICU (p=0.00). Likelihood of having complications was unrelated to age, gender, duration of illness or duration of hospital stay (p>0.05) when using standard safety protocols. Safe antibiotics showing high sensitivity patterns to commonly acquired infections in GBS patients included Vancomycin (100%), Polymixin B (100%) and Tigecycline (62.5%). Conclusions: Age, gender, duration of illness or duration of hospital stay do not affect the complication rates in GBS when using standard safety protocols. Respiratory tract infections commonly affect those admitted to ICU. Large venous access catheters should be regularly inspected for infections. Antibiotics which may empirically be used in our setup for common infections complicating GBS include Vancomycin, Polymixin B and Tigecycline (particularly for RTIs) as these are highly sensitive and easily available.

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