Associations of trauma severity with mean platelet volume and levels of systemic inflammatory markers (IL1 beta, IL6, TNF alpha, and CRP)

Abstract

We investigated the associations of injury severity scores (ISSs) with the mean platelet volume, the serum levels of two interleukins (IL1 beta and IL6), and the serum levels of tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) and C-reactive protein (CRP). We sought to identify biochemical parameters that could be used as components of a new biochemical parameter-based ISS system. The levels of CRP, TNF alpha, IL1 beta, and IL6 differed significantly (all p values < 0.05) between severely injured patients and controls. The mean platelet volume (MPV) did not correlate with the ISSs (p > 0.05). The TNF alpha and IL6 levels were useful for determining the severity of injury, and the CRP level was elevated in all trauma patients but did not correlate with the ISS. The IL1 beta level was higher in the study group but did not increase as the ISS increased. IL6 and TNF alpha levels were higher in the study group and increased as the ISS increased. We found no significant difference between the trauma group and healthy individuals in terms of MPV values. IL6 and TNF alpha levels can be used to assess trauma severity. However, neither the MPV nor the CRP or IL1 beta level is useful for this purpose.