Delayed cerebral ischemia (DCI) is a severe complication following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH), linked to poor functional outcomes and prolonged intensive care unit (ICU) stays. Timely DCI diagnosis is crucial but remains challenging. Dysregulated blood glucose, commonly observed after aSAH, may impair the constant glucose supply that is vital for brain function, potentially contributing to DCI. This study aimed to assess whether glucose indices could help identify at-risk patients and improve DCI detection. This retrospective, single-center observational study examined 151 aSAH patients between 2016 and 2019. Additionally, 70 of these (46.4%) developed DCI and 81 did not (no-DCI). To determine the value of glycemic indices for DCI, they were analyzed separately in patients in the period before (pre-DCI) and after DCI (post-DCI). The time-weighted average glucose (TWAG, p = 0.024), mean blood glucose (p = 0.033), and novel time-unified dysglycemic rate (TUDR140, calculated as the ratio of dysglycemic to total periods within a glucose target range of 70–140 mg/dL, p = 0.042), showed significantly higher values in the pre-DCI period of the DCI group than in the no-DCI group. In the time-series analysis, significant increases in TWAG and TUDR140 were observed at the DCI onset. In conclusion, DCI patients showed elevated blood glucose levels before and a further increase at the DCI onset. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings, as this retrospective, single-center study cannot completely exclude confounders and limitations. In the future blood glucose indices might become valuable parameters in multiparametric models to identify patients at risk and detect DCI onset earlier.

Critically ill burn patients face severe metabolic stress, divided into early ebb and late flow phases, causing dysglycemia. While detrimental effects of hyper- and hypoglycemia in burn patients have been reported over the entire stay, its impact during the ebb and flow phases remains unexplored. This study is the first to investigate phase-separated dysglycemia for outcome prediction. This retrospective, single-center observational study examined burn ICU patients between 2009 and 2022. Non-severe (ABSI<7) and severe (ABSI≥7) burn patients were investigated separately. Furthermore, the effect of low (<50 %) versus high (≥50 %) dysglycemic rates (140 mg/dL) was evaluated within the ebb and flow phases. Dysglycemia was calculated using the time-unified rate, an innovative method representing blood glucose over time. The primary outcome of this study was mortality. This study included 67 non-severe and 101 severe burn patients. During the flow compared to the ebb phase, non-severe burn patients showed increased hyperglycemic rates (>140 mg/dL, p = 0.027) and mean blood glucose levels (p = 0.003), while severe burn patients showed increased glycemic variability (p < 0.001) and hypoglycemic rates (<70 mg/dL, p = 0.003). Non-severe burn patients with high dysglycemic rates showed increased length of ICU stay (ebb: p = 0.029, flow: p = 0.040) and pneumonia incidence (ebb: p = 0.005, flow: p = 0.002) compared to patients with low dysglycemic rates. High dysglycemic rate was associated with higher mortality in severe burn patients (ebb: p = 0.027, flow: p = 0.008). Multivariate logistic regression revealed that hyper- (OR: 1.034, 95 %-CI: [1.001-1.068], p = 0.045) and hypoglycemic rates (OR: 1.744, 95 %-CI: [1.180-2.577], p = 0.005) during the flow, but not the ebb phase, predicted mortality in severe burn patients. This study suggests that increased dysglycemic rate plays a relevant role in both non-severe and severe burn patients, with a varying impact. Over time, the flow phase was characterized by higher glycemic variability as well as hyper- and hypoglycemic rates, with the latter two predicting mortality in severe burn patients. While larger cohorts are needed to confirm these findings, the data indicate that reducing the dysglycemic rate, particularly during the flow phase, could improve outcomes in critically ill burn patients.

Purpose: Stress-induced hyperglycemia is a frequent metabolic response to polytrauma. To date, studies primarily analyzed its association with mortality; however, its effect on functional outcomes remain unclear. This study investigated the association between sustained hyperglycemia across metabolic phases and functional outcomes in polytraumatized ICU patients. Methods: This retrospective single-center observational study included 176 adult ICU polytrauma patients admitted to a German level 1 university trauma center (2013–2023). Blood glucose was quantified using admission values, time-weighted averages, variability and time-unified hyperglycemic rate (TUHyperR; cutoffs 140/160/180 mg/dL) across the early “ebb” (≤ 48 h) and later “flow” (> 48 h) metabolic phases. Primary endpoint was functional outcome using Glasgow outcome scale (GOS; unfavorable GOS ≤ 3). Temporal trends were analyzed using mixed-effects models, and associations with outcomes were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. Results: Patients with unfavorable outcomes (39.2%) had higher cumulative hyperglycemic exposure throughout their ICU stay. Hyperglycemia was consistently higher during ebb than flow phase. Moderate hyperglycemia during the ebb phase was also in multivariable analysis most discriminative: TUHyperR>140 mg/dL (OR 1.015, 95%-CI [1.004–1.025], p = 0.008) and TUHyperR>160 mg/dL (OR 1.016, 95%-CI [1.003–1.030], p = 0.017) were independently associated with unfavorable outcomes, whereas TUHyperR>180 mg/dL, admission, mean glucose values as well as glycemic variability were not. Conclusion: Prolonged moderate hyperglycemia within the first 48 h after polytrauma was independently associated with poor functional outcome at hospital discharge. These exploratory findings support the value of cumulative glycemic exposure as a potential risk marker and highlight the need for prospective studies to determine whether time-based glucose metrics might improve risk stratification and guide metabolic management in polytrauma ICU patients.