Getting Back to Zero with Nucleated Red Blood Cells: Following Trends is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

Background: The presence of nucleated red blood cells (NRBCs) has been identified as a poor prognostic indicator. We investigated the relationship of NRBC trends in patients with and without trauma.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed surgical intensive care unit admissions over 4 years, categorizing trauma and nontrauma patients and subdividing them into 3 groups: group A, all-zero NRBC; group B, positive NRBC value returning to zero; and group C, positive NRBC value that did not return to zero. We analyzed all groups for outcomes of length of stay and mortality.

Results: Group A was the largest and had the shortest length of stay and least mortality. Group C had the highest mortality rate. No statistical difference was observed with mortality.

Conclusions: Any positive NRBC was associated with poor outcome, and increasing NRBC was associated with increasing mortality. Trends in NRBC values showed that returning to zero was protective.