correlation of high dose of vitamin d₃ with increased hemoglobin in patients under mechanical ventilation in medical icu

Anemia is very common in critical illnesses. around two-thirds of adults are anemic when admitted to the intensive care unit (icu). recently, vitamin d deficiency has been identified as a potential cause of inflammatory anemia. in this study, we examine the relationship between the injection of a high dose of vitamin d3 and the hemoglobin level in patients undergoing mechanical ventilation in the icu unit. the present study is a double-blind clinical trial. during a six-month period (june to november 2018), all patients admitted to the icu department of imam hossein hospital who met the study's inclusion criteria and were under mechanical ventilation were randomly divided into two groups. at first, the concentration of hemoglobin and the level of vitamin d3 were checked. in the control group, a placebo was used, while in the intervention group, patients were administered vitamin d3 via gavage (50,000 units for 5 days). the hemoglobin levels were measured and recorded once a week for a maximum duration of one month. no statistically significant difference was observed between the two groups in terms of demographic variables and sofa. the average hemoglobin levels before and after the study in the vitamin d3 group were 9.9 ± 2.1 and 11.2 ± 2.5, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.004). while in the control group, the average hemoglobin levels before and after the study were 9.9 ± 2.1 and 10.2 ± 1.8, respectively. however, the difference was not found to be statistically significant (p=0.102). in this study, it was found that increasing the level of vitamin d3 in patients hospitalized for 6 months in the icu significantly increased their hemoglobin levels.