Predictive Significance of C-reactive Protein-to-albumin Ratio for Postoperative Pancreatic Fistula After Pancreaticoduodenectomy

Abstract

Background/aim: The usefulness of C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR) as a predictive indicator for clinically-relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) is unclear. We performed a retrospective analysis to identify reliable inflammatory indicators for prediction of CR-POPF after PD.

Patients and methods: We enrolled 160 consecutive patients who underwent PD. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. The areas under curves (AUCs) were compared with the discriminatory ability of inflammatory indicators, namely, C-reactive protein (CRP), neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), platelet count multiplied by C-reactive protein (P-CRP), and CAR.

Results: The AUC for CAR on POD 3 to predict CR-POPF was 0.782 (p<0.001) and higher than that for CRP (0.773), NLR (0.652), PLR (0.504), and P-CRP (0.703). Multivariate analysis revealed that CAR on POD 3 was an independent predictive indicator of CR-POPF.

Conclusion: CAR on POD 3 is a reliable predictor of CR-POPF after PD.

Keywords: C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio; postoperative pancreatic fistula.