ArticleObesity surgery2025
Complementary Roles of PCT, CRP, WBC, and ΔWBC in Early Leak Detection After Bariatric Surgery: A Retrospective Pilot Study.
Article in Obesity surgery, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 2 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Longitudinal Changes in Serum Procalcitonin After Bariatric Surgery and Their Associations with Anthropometric, Metabolic, and Inflammatory Parameters.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Feasibility and Outcomes of a Uniform Drain-Free Strategy for Primary and Revisional Metabolic Bariatric Surgery under an ERAS Protocol.Obesity surgery · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPostoperative leakage is a critical complication after bariatric surgery, necessitating early and accurate detection. Conventional markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and white blood cell (WBC) counts are often limited by low specificity due to nonspecific inflammatory responses. Procalcitonin (PCT), a marker more specific to bacterial infections, may improve diagnostic reliability. This study compared the diagnostic performance of PCT with that of CRP, WBC, and ΔWBC (postoperative-preoperative difference) to enhance postoperative surveillance.
methodsWe retrospectively analyzed 579 bariatric surgery patients. Diagnostic performance was assessed via sensitivity, specificity, likelihood ratios, and confidence intervals. For group comparisons, the Kruskal-Wallis test and Fisher's exact test were used. Spearman's rank correlation was used to examine associations with clinical variables. Hospital stay and complication rates were also evaluated under a PCT-centered protocol.
resultsPCT had the highest specificity (98.4%) compared with CRP (94.3%) and WBC (67.7%), although sensitivity was limited (33.3%) because of the low incidence of leaks (n = 3). PCT remained specific to one anastomosis gastric bypass (OAGB), whereas the CRP level and WBC count were influenced by baseline inflammation. In revision surgeries, specificity decreased across all markers, but ΔWBC retained strong performance (92%). The PCT-based protocol was associated with shorter hospital stays (22.0 vs. 25.0 h, p < 0.001) without increased complication rates.
conclusionsPCT is a highly specific early marker for complications after bariatric surgery. When combined with conventional markers, particularly ΔWBC, it may support more efficient patient management. Further validation in broader clinical settings is warranted.
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