Neutrophil/lymphocyte Ratio after Flow Citometry Periferic Blood Cell Detection - Predictive Marker of Anastomotic Fistula in Colorectal Cancer Surgery

Anastomotic fistula is a dreadful complication of colon and rectal surgery that can put life into danger, being common after colorectal surgery. The preoperative lymphocyte neutrophil ratio (NLR) is known as a prognostic marker for colorectal cancer patients. The existence of a predictive marker of anastomotic fistula in colorectal cancer patients is not fully undestood, so we proposed to investigate the utility of preoperative NLR as a predictor of anastomotic fistula formation. This study the Neutrophils and lymphocytes were detected from periferic blood using flow citometry. We retrospectively evaluated 161 patients with colorectal cancer, who were treated curatively, in which at least one anastomosis was performed, comparing NLR values between patients who had fistula and those with normal healing, then comparing the group with low NLR, with the group with increased NLR, after finding the optimal value of NLR using the ROC curve.The optimal value of the NLR after establishing the cutoff value was 3.07. Between the low NLR group (n=134) and the high NLR group (n=27), were observed statistically significant differences in fistula (p [0.001) and death (p=0.001). The odds ratio for failure in the group with increased NLR was 10.37, which means that patients with NLR]3.54 have a chance of developing anastomotic fistula greater than 10.37 comparable to patients with lower NLR. We suggest the preoperative use of NLR can be used as a predictive marker of anastomotic fistula than can increase the quality of preoperative preparation and therefore the establishment of the optimal surgical technique that can lead to anastomotic fistula risk decrease.