RESUMO
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.
