Serum procalcitonin as an early diagnostic marker of severe postoperative complications after elective pancreaticoduodenectomy

Background/Purpose: To evaluate the clinical utility of serum procalcitonin (PCT) as a diagnostic marker for the severe postoperative complications associated with pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Methods: A total of 387 patients were enrolled and the PCT and C-reactive protein (CRP) values were compared between the non-severe complications group (Clavien–Dindo classification Grade IIIb and lower) and severe complications (Grade IVa and higher). Results: Severe complications occurred in 16 patients. In the severe complications group, CRP levels peaked on postoperative day (POD) 3, whereas PCT levels peaked on POD 1. The PCT levels on PODs 1–5 were significantly higher in the severe complications group. Regarding the diagnostic performance, the PCT value on POD 2 higher than 2.1 ng/mL revealed the highest performance, with 66.7% sensitivity and 78.6% specificity. Based on the postoperative kinetics and multivariate analysis, PCT and CRP both act independently of each other and the combination assay improved the diagnostic power (area under the curve 0.781; sensitivity 60.0%; specificity 85.6%). Preoperative biliary drainage was found to affect the perioperative PCT values and subgroup analysis stratified by the drainage procedure improved diagnostic sensitivity (~85%). Conclusions: Procalcitonin in the early postoperative period can serve as an earlier detector for the development of severe complications after PD.