High risk of septic complications following surgery for Crohn's disease in patients with preoperative anaemia, hypoalbuminemia and high CRP

Aim: Bowel resection in Crohn's disease still has a high rate of complications due to risk factors including immune suppression, malnutrition and active inflammation or infection at the time of operating. In this study, we use serological levels and inflammatory markers to predict the potential of complications in patients undergoing resections for complicated Crohn's disease.

Methods: All patients undergoing laparoscopic bowel resection for Crohn’s disease from 5th of November 2012 to 11th of October 2017 were included in this retrospective observational study. Patients were divided into 4 groups scoring 0, 1, 2 or 3 depending on their pre-operative haemoglobin concentration (Hb), C-reactive protein (CRP) and albumin (Alb) where 1 point was given for an abnormal value in each as detailed in the definitions. They were then grouped into a low risk group comprised of those scoring 0 and 1, and a high risk group for those scoring 2 and 3 and data was collected to compare outcomes and the incidence of septic complications.

Results: Seventy-nine patients were included. Eleven (13.9%) and 2 (2.5%) patients had 2 or 3 abnormal values of CRP, Alb and Hb and were categorized as high risk. High risk patients had a significantly higher rate of post-operative septic complications (30.7%) compared with low risk patients (10.6%) p value < 0.0001.

Conclusion: Pre-operative CRP, haemoglobin and albumin can serve as predictors of septic complications after surgery for Crohn’s disease and can therefore be used to guide pre-operative optimisation and clinical decision-making.