Outcomes of patients with Guillain Barre Syndrome – Experience from a tertiary care hospital of a developing Asian country and review of regional literature

Outcomes of Guillain Barre Syndrome (GBS), particularly those require mechanical ventilation have been reported from a number of Asian countries, albeit, scarcely from Pakistan. We conducted this study to determine the short-term outcomes of GBS and compare the results of mechanically ventilated and non-ventilated patients. Case records of patients admitted with GBS during 2011–2016 at a large tertiary care centre of Pakistan were retrospectively reviewed. 216 patients satisfying inclusion criteria were included. Patients were divided into 2 groups based on requirement of MV (MV and non-MV group). Short term outcomes were assessed by Modified Rankin Scale (MRS) at discharge, 2 weeks and 3 months and comparison done between MV and non-MV group. Outcome based on MRS score is categorized as good (MRS = 0–3) or poor (MRS = 4–6). Requirement for MV was noted in 24.5%. MV patients had severe weakness at presentation, longer length of hospital stay (LOS) and higher frequency of in-hospital complications. Overall mortality was 7.9%. Good outcomes at discharge and at 3 months were noted in significantly higher frequency in non-MV group (50.3% and 93.2% respectively) as compared to MV group (11.3% and 33.3% respectively). In MV group, increasing age, areflexia and longer LOS stay were found as independent predictors of poor outcome. Overall outcomes of GBS in our population are comparable to both regional and international studies. However, poor outcomes in MV group are seen in higher frequency in our study. Increasing age, areflexia and longer LOS may predict poor outcome in MV patients.