A project titled, “Bio-electrical impedance phase angle and impedance ratio as predictors of disease severity among critically ill children” by Ms. Sruti Mohanty, 3rd year MBBS student, has been approved by ICMR-STS 2022 (Ref ID- 2022-10964). Dr. Priyadarsini Samanta, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physiology and Dr. Sibabratta Patnaik, Professor, Dept of Pediatrics are her guide and co-guide respectively in this study.
The body homeostasis of critically ill children is largely variable due to shifting of body fluids from intravascular to extravascular compartment, loss of lean body mass, and alteration of systemic metabolism. A common issue observed among pediatric intensive care patients is hemodynamic instability and fluid imbalance. Critically ill children particularly those who survive following mechanical ventilation suffer from malnutrition, loss of muscle due to catabolic state in addition to short-term or long-term loss of functional status. Therefore, early-stage recognition and managing fluid overload, identification of patients with undernutrition is of utmost importance in preventing complications. Body composition analysis through Bioelectrical Impedance (BIA) is a non-invasive superior technique, which evaluates specific body composition parameters.
The main aim of the present study is to test the association of bioelectrical impedance phase angle and impedance ratio of critically ill children on admission with their disease severity/mortality and pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) length of stay.
Knowledge of nutritional and hydration status in the case of children with critical illness is of utmost importance in their therapeutic benefit as well as in their prognosis of disease severity and mortality. The deleterious outcome could occur in childhood critical illness due to loss of lean body mass. Therefore, the early assessment of prediction marker and phase angle through BIA will help prevent the morbidity and mortality associated with critical illness in childhood.