Preoperative prognostic nutritional index associated with anastomotic leakage in colorectal cancer patients after surgery.

BACKGROUND

Anastomotic leakage (AL) is a severe complication of colorectal cancer (CRC) surgery and is associated with the immune and nutritional status.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to investigate the role of the prognostic nutritional index (PNI) in AL in CRC patients after surgery.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A retrospective case-control study was designed in a single center. The clinicopathological features and preoperative laboratory data of 124 CRC patients and 120 non-cancer patients who underwent surgery were collected and examined. Among the CRC patients, 24 had AL.

RESULTS

Nutritional indicators were lower in CRC patients than in non-cancer patients (p < 0.05), but the clinical parameters analysis showed that only metastasis (M) stage, albumin, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), CA153, and PNI were associated with AL in CRC after surgery (p < 0.05). Prognostic nutritional index had a moderate predictive value for AL, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.625. Using the median value as a cutoff point, a high PNI was associated with a longer survival time in CRC patients (p = 0.033), and AL showed marginal significance (p = 0.048). The nomogram showed that PNI has a better prognostic value than tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) staging in CRC patients who underwent surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

Prognostic nutritional index is a useful supplement for predicting AL in CRC patients after colorectal surgery. It also helps predict the prognosis of CRC patients.