PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Murat Tomruk
AU  - Seher Özyürek
AU  - Sema Savci
AU  - Didem Karadibak
AU  - Yusuf Savran
AU  - Ugur Koca
AU  - Ali Necati Gökmen
TI  - The relationship between peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation in intensive care unit patients
DP  - 2014 Sep 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - P4295
VI  - 44
IP  - Suppl 58
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4295.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/44/Suppl_58/P4295.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2014 Sep 01; 44
AB  - Introduction: Neuromuscular dysfunction is a common health problem in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. Therefore, early assessment of peripheral muscle strength and its affecting factors is important in the ICU.Aim: To investigate the relationship between peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation in ICU patients.Methods: Patients with an ICU stay of at least 48 hours were included. Patients' medical information and laboratory data were recorded. Dominant handgrip strength (kg) was measured by an hydraulic hand dynamometer and used to determine the peripheral muscle strength. For the comparison of assessed handgrip strength with normative data, the reference values defined by Bohannon et.al. were used. The ratio of partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood to the inspired fraction of oxygen (PaO2/FiO2) was calculated from the most recent arterial blood gas samples.Results: 29 ICU patients (12 male, 17 female) with the mean age of 64 years were included the study. Median (interquartile range) PaO2/FiO2 was 297 (227 - 432) and handgrip strength was 10 (4 - 14) kg, representing 30% of the normative values. Oxygenation was positively and significantly correlated with peripheral muscle strength and percentage predicted of peripheral muscle strength (rho=0.72, p=0.001 and rho=0.50, p=0.006; respectively).Conclusions: Peripheral muscle strength and oxygenation were found to be correlated in ICU patients. Future research may address the effects of physiotherapy techniques in order to improve oxygenation and peripheral muscle strength in critically ill patients.