Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Crit Care Med. Jun 9, 2026; 15(2): 118175
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.118175
Published online Jun 9, 2026. doi: 10.5492/wjccm.v15.i2.118175
Association of early interleukin-6 level with injury severity and mortality in trauma patients: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Ibrahim Al-Hassani, Medical College, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha 24144, Qatar
Ayman El-Menyar, Ammar Al-Hassani, Hassan Al-Thani, Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar
Ayman El-Menyar, Clinical Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, Doha 24144, Qatar
Mashhood Naduvilekandy, Clinical Research, Trauma Surgery, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha 3050, Qatar
Author contributions: Al-Hassani I contributed to conceptualization, methodology, writing original draft; Naduvilekandy M, Al-Hassani A, El-Menyar A, Al-Thani H contributed to writing- review and editing; all authors have read and agreed to publish the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare no conflict of interest.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Corresponding author: Ayman El-Menyar, Department of Surgery, Hamad Medical Corpo
Received: December 28, 2025
Revised: January 14, 2026
Accepted: February 6, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 145 Days and 17.8 Hours
Revised: January 14, 2026
Accepted: February 6, 2026
Published online: June 9, 2026
Processing time: 145 Days and 17.8 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Polytrauma is associated with increased morbidity and mortality. Use and identification of biomarkers as prognostic indicators in polytraumatized patients is therefore important. Interleukin (IL)-6 is a proinflammatory cytokine that is often elevated in polytrauma patients and is linked with worse outcomes and more severe injury. However, to date, there is only one meta-analysis published in English literature 7 years ago looking at the association between injury severity and IL-6. By integrating more recent evidence, this meta-analysis provides further support for IL-6 as a prognostic indicator not only for injury severity but also for mortality among adult polytrauma patients.