Admission Serum Bicarbonate Predicts Adverse Clinical Outcomes in Hospitalized Cirrhotic Patients

Table 6

Association of admission SB with adverse hospital metrics.

Variable	Hospital LOS^†		ICU care^‡ adjusted OR (95% CI)	Mortality^‡ adjusted OR (95% CI)
	Mean difference (95% CI) days	-value
SB 22–25	0	—	1	1
SB < 14	4.07 (1.21–6.93)	<0.01	6.45 (3.50–11.89)	1.23 (0.55–2.75)
SB 14–17	3.14 (1.48–4.81)	<0.001	2.39 (1.52–3.77)	1.73 (1.04–2.87)
SB 18–21	1.46 (0.31–2.6)	0.01	1.72 (1.20–2.46)	1.14 (0.73–1.77)
SB 26–29	−0.19 (−1.44–1.06)	0.77	0.80 (0.49–1.30)	0.70 (0.38–1.28)
SB 30–33	0.62 (−1.77–3.01)	0.61	0.98 (0.41–2.34)	1.52 (0.61–3.80)
SB >33	2.04 (−1.8–5.89)	0.30	1.34 (0.39–4.54)	0.49 (0.61–3.90)
Age^§	−0.04 (−0.08–-0.01)	0.02	1.02 (1.00–1.03)	1.04 (1.02–1.05)
Male vs female	0.38 (−0.54–1.3)	0.42	0.87 (0.65–1.16)	0.84 (0.59–1.20)
MELD-Na^§	0.23 (0.17–0.3)	<0.001	1.00 (0.98–1.02)	1.11 (1.08–1.13)
Albumin^§	−1.55 (−2.21–0.89)	<0.001	0.67 (0.55–0.83)	0.50 (0.38–0.65)

Statistically significant ORs and -values are in bold. ^†Adjusted mean difference (95% CI) in LOS calculated using general linear modeling adjusting for age, gender, MELD-Na, and serum albumin. ^‡Adjusted ORs (95% CI) calculated using multivariable logistic regression analysis adjusting for age, gender, MELD-Na, and serum albumin. 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.