Utility of colon leakage score in left-sided colorectal surgery

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate the clinical utility of the colon leakage score (CLS) in predicting the risk of anastomotic leakage (AL) after left-sided colorectal surgery.

Materials and methods: This investigation was designed as a retrospective study of 304 patients who underwent left-sided colorectal surgery. The patients were classified into two groups as those who developed AL and those who did not develop AL, and the CLSs of the two groups were compared. The predictive value and the cutoff value of the CLS were assessed by receiver operating characteristic and logistic regression analysis.

Results: A significant difference was noted in the mean CLSs of the groups with and without AL (P < 0.001). The values of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (0.965; confidence interval, 0.913-1.00) and the odds ratio (2.9; confidence interval, 1.59-4.83; P < 0.001) indicated that CLS was a good predictor of AL. A CLS of 11 was found to be the best cutoff value, with a sensitivity and specificity of 84.6% and 87.2%, respectively.

Conclusions: Our findings indicate that CLS can effectively predict the risk of AL after left-sided colorectal surgery and that a CLS of 11 can be used as a cutoff value for the risk level.

Keywords: Anastomotic leakage; Colon cancer; Colon leakage score; Left-sided colorectal surgery; Risk.