Clinical Features Indicating the Need for Mechanical Ventilation in Patients with Guillain Barre Syndrome

Background Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS) is an immune-mediated inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy. Respiratory failure is one of its recognized and most dreaded complications, requiring ventilatory assistance. Early recognition of distinct clinical predictors of mechanical ventilation may help in the better management of GBS patients in our setup. Objective To determine the clinical predictors indicating the need for mechanical ventilation in patients with Guillain Barre Syndrome and to compare the presenting features in patients who require mechanical ventilation and who do not. Method It was a prospective observational study. A total of 100 consecutive patients, over the period of one year, were included in this study. All patients were clinically examined for limb weakness, neck weakness, bulbar and facial nerve involvement, and followed up till seven days of hospitalization for whether the patient required mechanical ventilation or not. Results were recorded on a specifically designed proforma. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, US). Results Out of 100 patients, 13% required mechanical ventilation. When clinical presentations were compared in patients who required mechanical ventilation and those who did not, a shorter interval between the onset of symptoms and the attainment of maximal disability, facial weakness, bulbar dysfunction, and neck weakness turned out to be significant factors (p-value<0.000). Conclusion According to these significant outcomes of our study, the course of patients with GBS leading to mechanical ventilation can be predicted on the basis of clinical presentations. So we can recommend that shorter time duration between symptom onset and peak disability, along with the presence of facial, bulbar, and neck weakness, should be taken as an indication of impending respiratory failure.