The effects of selenium supplementation on clinical outcomes in mechanically ventilated, non-surgical/traumatic critically ill patients

Background: Selenium presents anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties which plays a critical role in nutrition of patients following devastating conditions. Furthermore, several lines of evidence reported that most of patients who admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) have lower plasma levels of selenium. Therefore, this study was designed to define the impact of selenium supplementation on clinical outcomes of mechanically ventilated non-surgical/traumatic critically ill patients.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 105 subjects hospitalized in ICU of Shohadaye Haft-e Tir Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Here the acute physiologic assessment and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II score of patients was documented on the day of their ICU admission. The patients were divided to two groups based on block randomization technique and were assigned to receive selenium or placebo. Then the effect of selenium supplementation was evaluated based on the APACHE II score, the occurrence of ventilator associated pneumonia (VAP), length of ICU stay and the rate of mortality.Results: The acquired data revealed no significant difference between two experimental groups based on the demographical information. Also it was demonstrated that selenium supplementation of critically ill patients was associated with better APACHE II score, fewer length of ICU stay and fewer mortality rate. Incidence of VAP indicated no significant difference between groups.Conclusion: The obtained data of this single center clinical trial showed that selenium supplementation could improve clinical outcomes of critically ill patients.Keywords: Selenium supplementation; APACHE II score; ventilator associated pneumonia; mortality rate; length of ICU stay