Non-Invasive Cerebral Edema Monitoring and High-Risk Blood Biomarkers in Pediatric Sepsis-Associated Encephalopathy: A Clinical Application Study

Objective: To investigate the non-invasive cerebral edema monitoring and high-risk blood biomarkers in pediatric sepsis-associated encephalopathy. Methods: 62 children diagnosed with septic encephalopathy in the Intensive Care Medicine Department of Hebei Children's Hospital from February 2024 to May 2025 were selected as the injury group, and 62 children without septic encephalopathy who were admitted to the intensive care unit during the same period were selected as the control group. General information, including gender, weight, early warning score,routine blood tests, blood biochemistry, cranial imaging examination and other indicators was collected from the two groups of children.Two groups of children were monitored for cerebral edema using non-invasive brain edema monitoring, and the disturbance coefficients(DC) were recorded at 24 hours, 72 hours, and 7 days after admission. Logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent risk factors for sepsis complicated with encephalopathy, and using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis to assess the predictive value of DC in sepsis complicated with encephalopathy. Results: There was a statistically significant difference ( P <0.05) in the modified GCS score, early warning score, and lactate, blood glucose, platelet count, albumin, APTT, and D-dimer levels between the two groups of children. The 24-hour DC values of the injured group were lower than those of the control group, with 15 patients showing cerebral edema on cranial imaging and 38 patients showing abnormal EEGs. The differences were statistically significant ( P <0.05). The early warning score, lactate level, platelet count, and albumin level( P <0.05) are independent risk factors for sepsis complicated with encephalopathy in children. The area under the ROC curve for predicting sepsis complicated with encephalopathy using the DC value was 0.713, with an optimal cutoff value of 82, a sensitivity of 54.8%, and a specificity of 76.2%. Conclusion: Septicemic encephalopathy is the result of the interaction of multiple factors, and early warning scores, lactate levels, platelet counts, and albumin levels should receive increased attention in clinical practice. DC monitoring upon admission can serve as a warning tool, early intervention, dynamic monitoring and evaluation of treatment outcomes, and improve the prognosis of pediatric patients. Classification number: R725.9