Oxidative Monitoring in ICU Patients.

Sepsis is common in the ICU and is associated with high mortality that reaches up to 60%, increased duration of hospitalization and additional costs [1,2].Early diagnosis and stratification of severity are of great importance in order to timely apply proper and adequate treatment [3].

Oxidative stress is implicated in inflammation and sepsis and sepsis severity seems to correlate with increased oxidative stress [7,8]. Monitoring of oxidative stress has been done so far with various markers which reflect the different pathways of oxidative stress as is oxidosis of lipids, proteins, nucleic acids; yet the antioxidant capacity of various enzymes and vitamins has been studied [9]. However these methods do not reflect oxidative stress as a whole, are time consuming, need special laboratory procedures and are costly.

Oxidation-reduction potential is a new technique that enables bedside assessment of the oxidative status. It is based on measuring the balance of oxidants and reductants in human blood with a simple plasma test that reports results immediately.

Hypothesis

Oxidation-reduction potential, used for oxidative monitoring in ICU patients, might correlate with sepsis severity and may be used in addition to other clinical and/or inflammatory markers to assess severity and possibly prognosis.