The precipitating factors and outcome of a thirty nine Patients with Guillain-Barre Syndrome admitted in the ICU of Al-Mawani General Hospital in the Governorate of Al- Basrah

Abstract

Objectives: To study the possible precipitating factors and the variability of the outcome in patients with severe Guillian- baree syndrome according to age, sex and types of treatment.Methods : A single center, retrospective, descriptive study of 39 Patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome were studied between April 2007 to October 2010, their ages were between 3-63 year. They were 21 males and 18 females. Diagnosis was confirmed by typical clinical feature and ancillary investigations like electro diagnosis plus exclusion of other diagnoses. The history of any preceded or associated diseases before one month were clarified, treatment strategies and outcomes of the diseases were also analyzed. The study was conducted in the intensive care unit in Almawani general hospital Basrah, Iraq.Results: 23 patients had respiratory tract infection precede the neurological deficit, 7 patients had diarrhea and 22 patients occur at winter season. All the 39 patients develop limbs weakness, 30 patients develop shortness of breath and 24 of them needed mechanical ventilation. From the 26 patients with intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIG) 17 had complete recovery, 5 left with neurological deficit and 4 of them died.Conclusions: respiratory tract infections are the commonest precipitating diseases preceding GBS in this study, most cases occur in winter. Early immunoglobulin therapies result in a high percentage of complete recovery and a less percentage of death.Key Words: Guillain- Barre Syndrome. Precipitating diseases. Immunoglobulin therapy.