Evaluation of zinc status of critically ILL patients (infants and toddlers) admitted to pediatric intensive care units and its correlation to their outcome.

BACKGROUND: Zinc deficiency is common among critically ill children; but there is still debate about zinc deficiency and severity of illness in PICU. OBJECTIVE: The study aimed to measure the serum zinc level in critically ill children on admission and to correlate the effect of zinc deficiency on outcome of critically ill children. METHODS: A prospective observational cohort study was conducted at a Children's Hospital on 82 patients aged between 1 month to 3years, admitted to the PICU with acute illness, excluding chronic medical conditions that affect zinc status. All were subjected to physical examination, anthropometric measurements, laboratory investigation (Complete blood count, C-reactive protein, serum albumin, serum zinc level) and outcomes. RESULTS: The study included 82 patients; their mean age was (10.5 ± 9.6) months, 53.7% were males, 46.3% were females. The study found that 43.9% of patients had low serum zinc levels. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between adequate zinc intake and head circumference Z-score (p-value=0.012). No correlation was found between zinc level and illness severity as measured by antibiotics duration, respiratory support duration, and Glasgow Coma Scale score (p-value = 0.258, 0.214, 0.138) respectively. Moreover, no correlation was found between the zinc level and PICU stay (p-value=0.216). CONCLUSION: zinc deficiency was prevalent among critically ill pediatric patients, but its impact on clinical outcomes and severity of illness was not statistically significant.