Age-adjusted and Expanded Lactate Thresholds as Predictors of All-Cause Mortality in the Emergency Department

This study investigates whether age is a necessary variable to consider when using lactate levels as a marker of prognosis and a guide for management decisions in the ED.Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study in an urban, tertiary-care teaching hospital. A total of 13,506 lactate levels were obtained over a 4.5-year period. All adult patients who had a lactate level obtained by the treating provider in the ED were screened for inclusion. The main outcome measure was in-hospital mortality using age-adjusted cohorts and expanded lactate thresholds with secondary outcomes comparing mortality based on the primary clinical impression.Results: Of the 8796 patients in this analysis, there were...
Source: Western Journal of Emergency Medicine - Category: Emergency Medicine Source Type: research