Physiological stress level and screening for malnutrition as preoperative predictors of postoperative complications in pancreatic surgery: a retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Assessment of 'physiological stress levels' and 'nutritional status' before surgery is important for predicting complications and indirect interventions on the pancreas. The aim of this study was to determine neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and nutritional risk index (NRI) indicators before surgery to predict 90-day complications and mortality in a cohort of patients with complicated chronic pancreatitis and cancer of the head of the pancreas. METHODS: We evaluated preoperative levels of NLR and NRI among 225 subjects treated at different centres located in three countries. Short-term outcomes included length of hospital stay, postoperative complications, and mortality at 90 days and were appreciated based on NLR and NRI. The level of physiological stress was divided according by the formulas: neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) = (neutrophil count, %)/(lymphocyte count, %). The nutritional state of the patients was divided according to the INR: NRI = (1.519 × serum albumin, g/L) + (41.7 × present weight, kg / usual weight, kg)]. RESULTS: All patients were operated. An analysis of the operations performed in three institutions demonstrated mortality in chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic pseudocysts in 1.4%, in chronic pancreatitis and the presence of an inflammatory mass mainly in the pancreatic head in 1.2%, and in cancer of the pancreatic head in 5.9%. The mean preoperative NLR was normal in 33.8% of the patients, the mild physiologic stress level was 54.7%, and the moderate was 11.5% before surgery. 10.2% of patients had a normal nutritional status, 20% had mild, 19.6% had moderate, and 50.2% had severe malnutrition. In a univariate analysis, at the cutoff of NLR ≥ 9.5 (AUC = 0.803) and the cutoff of NRI ≤ 98.5 (AUC = 0.801), increasing the risk of complications was observed (hazard ratio, 2.01; 95% CI, 1.247-3.250, p = 0.006), but at the cutoff of NRI ≤ 83.55 (AUC = 0.81), we observed a survival difference in operated patients (hazard ratio, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.334-3.477, p = 0.0025). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that NLR and NRI were predictors of postoperative complications, but only NRI was a predictor of 90-day mortality in patients after surgery.

Is Early Reimplantation of the Duodenal-Jejunal Bypass Liner Viable?

The endoscopically implanted duodenal-jejunal bypass liner (DJBL) is an impermeable fluoropolymer device which prevents food making contact with the proximal intestine, thus inducing weight loss and improvement of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). However, weight and HbA1c levels generally increase post explantation. This study investigated the safety and feasibility of early DJBL reimplantation in five patients with obesity whose glucose levels had relapsed post explantation, examining the effect of reimplantation on weight loss, BMI and T2DM management. All DJBL implantation and explantation procedures were performed without complications. Despite reduction of T2DM medications, reduction in body weight and HbA1c levels resumed after reimplantation. In conclusion, early reimplantation of DJBL appears feasible, safe and effective.