Objective:

To determine whether serum procalcitonin levels in patients with abdominal surgery predict the need for surgical reintervention.

Material and methods:

Retrospective analysis of serum procalcitonin levels in 46 patients admitted to an intensive care unit after abdominal surgery within a one-year period, and its association with the need of surgical reintervention.

Results:

Serum procalcitonin values were significantly more elevated in patients who required surgical reintervention, compared to patients who did not required reintervention (9.46 ± 9.25 ng/mL vs 2.96 ± 3.93 ng/mL (p ≤ 0.05, CI95%), respectively). Serum PCT ≥ 1.19 ng/mL resulted as the value with a higher sensibility (84.2%) and fair specificity (55.6%) in predicting the need for surgical reintervention, with an area under the curve of 0.75. Patients who were subject to colorectal surgery with PCT levels equal or higher to this cut-off point had a significantly higher risk of surgical reintervention.

Conclusion:

Serum PCT levels could help recognize the need for surgical reintervention in patients submitted to abdominal surgery, with a higher sensibility in patients with colorectal surgery, although it should be clinically individualized to each patient due to the low specificity of this test in this particular context.