Clinical Characteristics and Prognosis of ICU-Admitted Patients with Guillain-Barre Syndrome: A Report from a Large Teaching Hospital in South Iran

Background: Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is the most prevalent acute peripheral polyneuropathy disorder. The disparities between populations and variations in the major risk factors highlight the importance of country-specific studies. This study aimed to report clinical characteristics and outcomes of ICU-admitted patients with GBS in an academic medical center in Iran. Methods: The data were collected retrospectively from all patients with GBS admitted to Namazi Hospital, affiliated with Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, (Shiraz, Iran), between March 2016 to March 2021. Specialized neurological information and the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE II) score were recorded. The SPSS software was used to analyze the data. The analyzed data were reported as numbers and percentages, or mean±SD, or median(Interquartile) Results: The study included 132 GBS patients, with an average age of 47.87±15.4 years and a male-to-female ratio of 1.69:1. More than half of the patients (58.5%) were classified as having an axonal disease. In patients with axonal illness, 51.4% of patients had lower limb powers 3, while only 36% of those had the demyelinating disease. This group also required mechanical ventilation more frequently (54% vs. 46%) and for a longer duration (26 [9–37] vs. 10 [1–61]) days. Pneumonia and sepsis were each observed in 16% of patients, and 12% developed a urinary tract infection. The most common type of GBS was acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP). Only 6 (3.8%) patients died.Conclusion: The axonal type of GBS was more frequent, and these patients required mechanical ventilation more frequently and for a longer duration than those in other electrophysiological categories.