Admission Serum Bicarbonate Predicts Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Cirrhotic Patients

Table 5

Univariable association of admission SB with adverse hospital metrics.

Variable	Hospital LOS^†		ICU care^‡ OR (95% CI)	Mortality^‡ OR (95% CI)
	Mean difference (95% CI) days	-value
SB 22–25	0	–	1	1
SB < 14	6.60 (3.91–9.27)	<0.001	7.27 (4.12–12.81)	4.09 (2.02–8.29)
SB 14–17	5.12 (3.58–6.66)	<0.001	2.74 (1.78–4.22)	3.98 (2.53–6.26)
SB 18–21	2.32 (1.27–3.36)	<0.001	1.69 (1.19–2.4)	1.63 (1.09–2.45)
SB 26–29	−0.62 (−1.74–0.50)	0.276	0.75 (0.47–1.19)	0.68 (0.39–1.18)
SB 30–33	1.29 (−0.92–3.50)	0.253	1.26 (0.59–2.71)	1.54 (0.68–3.49)
SB >33	2.28 (−1.35-5.91)	0.217	1.36 (0.41–4.56)	0.6 (0.08–4.48)
Age^§	−0.06 (−0.09–0.03)	<0.001	1.01 (1.001–1.02)	1.02 (1.01–1.03)
Male vs female	−0.99 (−1.82–0.15)	0.020	0.94 (0.72–1.24)	0.98 (0.72–1.34)
MELD-Na^§	0.30 (0.25–0.36)	<0.001	1.03 (1.01–1.04)	1.10 (1.08–1.12)
Albumin^§	−2.91 (−3.47–2.35)	<0.001	0.59 (0.49–0.71)	0.34 (0.27–0.43)

Statistically significant ORs and - values are in bold. ^†Mean difference (95% CI) in LOS calculated using general linear modeling. ^‡ORs (95% CI) calculated using univariable logistic regression analysis. Reference SB group against which other SB categories were compared. ^§Continuous variables: age (years), MELD-Na score, and albumin (g/dL). SB, serum bicarbonate; LOS, length of stay; CI, confidence interval; ICU, intensive care unit; OR, odds ratio; MELD-Na, Model of End-Stage Liver Disease-Sodium.