Selection of pre-operative haematobiochemical parameters for the identification of patients 'at risk of infection' undergoing surgery for gastro-intestinal cancer.
Sixty-three patients were given a complete laboratory screening before undergoing surgical treatment for cancer of the digestive tract. The values of all these parameters were correlated with the incidence of postoperative infections, with the aim of identifying those markers which could be useful for the pre-operative selection of the patients at risk of infection. Patients who developed postoperative infections showed a significant pre-operative reduction of total serum proteins (P less than 0.02), albumins (P less than 0.02), beta-globulins (P less than 0.01) and C3c (P less than 0.05), while alpha 1-globulins were slightly, but not significantly, increased. The possible clinical applications of these parameters, to develop a predictive model which may help identify the patients at risk of infection, are discussed.
Cafiero
F
F
Divisione di Oncologia Chirurgica, Istituto Nazionale per la Ricerca sul Cancro, Genoa, Italy.
Gipponi
M
M
Moresco
L
L
Capuzzo
R
R
Mansuino
P
P
Di Giorgio
F
F
Verganelli
E
E
D000368:Aged; D001609:Beta-Globulins / Q000378:metabolism; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D003176:Complement C3 / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011300:Preoperative Care; D012307:Risk Factors; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000378:metabolism; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*
D001609:Beta-Globulins; D001798:Blood Proteins; D003176:Complement C3; D012709:Serum Albumin