COMPARISON OF RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH (RDW) AND APACHE II SCORE AS PROGNOSTIC MARKER AMONG PATIENTS OF SEPSIS AND SEPTIC SHOCK IN A TERTIARY CARE INSTITUTE, SOUTHERN RAJASTHAN

Despite advancements, severe Sepsis and septic shock are increasing and contributing significantly to mortality. Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II scoring is used as an index of illness severity and for outcome prediction. However, calculating it is cumbersome. Recent studies reported that Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) is associated with prognosis in Critical Illness and as a part of Complete Blood Count, it is tested in all patients of sepsis. Hence, this study is being done to see correlation between RDW and sepsis. Materials and methods: A hospital-based prospective observational study done for a year on 50 patients admitted with sepsis and septic shock in the intensive care units of RNT Medical College & MBGH, Udaipur after taking consent. The necessary details were taken in Proforma and data was analyzed in MS excel and the results were interpreted & significance was attributed to P <0.05 Results: Out of 50 patients- 21 were non-survivors, 15(71.43%) were males & most of the patients in the age group of 41-60 years (47.62%) in non-survivors. Amongst survivors, 19 (65.52%) were males & most of the patients in the age group of 61-80 years (37.93%) Mean APACHE II score among non-survivors was 30.43?6.14 and 16.14?6.50 among survivors. Mean RDW among non-survivors was 16.09?2.24 and among survivors was 14.45?1.45. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant positive correlation between APACHE II & RDW among survivors and non-survivors. In developing countries like India, RDW levels measured on admission can be used as a prognostic marker in severe sepsis and septic shock.