Changes of ESR, CSR and CRP after Posterior Decompression and Posterolateral Fusion of the Lumbar Stenosis / 대한척추외과학회지

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To help in the early diagnosis of postoperative infections in lumbar stenosis, attempts were made to evaluate a large number of patients having levels of ESR, CSR and CRP at fixed intervals, following an uncomplicated instrumented posterolateral fusion with wide decompression. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 101 lumbar stenosis patients were included in this study. The levels of ESR, CSR and CRP were checked on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th, 10th and 14th postoperative days. These data were plotted in relation to time in order to follow their changes. The relationships between these and the perioperative factors (operation time, fusion levels, estimated bleeding amount and transfusion amount) were evaluated statistically. RESULTS: The ESR and CSR had peak levels by the 3rd postoperative day, which then became highly variable until 14 days. The CRP level was highest on the 2nd postoperative day, which decreased rapidly, was and reached nearly normalized levels by 14th day. The ESR and CSR values on the 7th postoperative day showed a tendency to correlate with the perioperative factors, but the CRP value showed no significant correlations. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed the effectiveness of CRP, and ineffectiveness of ESR and CSR, in the early detection of deep infections following surgery for wide lumbar stenosis.