High serum interleukin-6 concentration upon admission is predictive of disease severity in paediatric trauma patients

Abstract

Background: Trauma is the leading cause of death among children worldwide. The inflammatory response of paediatric patients to multiple injuries can be monitored using serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels. This study aimed to assess the value of IL-6 levels in predicting the severity of paediatric trauma and its clinical association with disease activity.

Method: We prospectively tested serum IL-6 levels and evaluated the Paediatric Trauma Score (PTS) and other clinical data among 106 paediatrics trauma patients from January 2022 to May 2023 at the Emergency Department of the Xi'an Children's Hospital in China. The relationship between IL-6 and trauma severity levels by PTS was analyzed statistically.

Results: IL-6 levels were elevated in 76 (71.70%) of the 106 paediatric patients with trauma. Spearman's test showed a significant negative linear correlation between IL-6 and PTS (r_s = - 0.757, p < 0.001). IL-6 levels were moderate positively correlated with alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, white blood cells, blood lactic acid and interleukin 10 (r_s = 0.513, 0.600, 0.503, 0.417, 0.558, p < 0.01). IL-6 levels were positively correlated with hypersensitive C-reactive protein and glucose (r_s = 0.377, r_s = 0.389, respectively, p < 0.001). IL-6 levels were negatively correlated with fibrinogen and PH (r_s = - 0.434, p < 0.001; r_s = - 0.382, respectively, p < 0.001). Binary scatter plots further demonstrated higher levels of IL-6 correlated with lower PTS scores.

Conclusion: Serum IL-6 levels significantly increased with increasing severity of paediatric trauma. Serum levels of IL-6 can function as important indicators for predicting disease severity and activity in paediatric trauma patients.

Keywords: Interleukin-6; Paediatric; Paediatric Trauma Score; Trauma.