Interleukin-6 serves as a biomarker for tissue injury severity and adverse outcomes in surgery, trauma, and critical care settings.
A variety of cytokines play a role in the inflammatory response. Interleukin-6 (IL-6)-type cytokines are released in response to tissue injury or an inflammatory stimulus, and act locally and systemically to generate a variety of physiologic responses. Interleukin-6 concentrations are elevated after surgery, trauma, and critical illness. The magnitude of IL-6 elevation correlates with the extent of tissue trauma/injury severity. Furthermore, there is an association between IL-6 elevation and adverse outcome. Interleukin-6 levels can also be used to stratify patients for therapeutic intervention.
Jawa et al. (Tue,) studied this question.