Abstract: Objective To explore the predictive value of postoperative C-reactive protein(CRP) levels in patients with esophageal cancer for postoperative anastomotic fistula,in order to provide clues for early detection of esophageal anastomotic fistula after surgery.
Methods The clinical data of 127 patients who underwent esophageal cancer surgery in our hospital from January 2017 to May 2019 were divided into two groups,according to the occurrence of anastomotic fistula after operation.The group with anastomotic fistula(n=37) was the observation group,and the group without anastomotic fistula(n=90) was the control group.We compared the changes of CRP levels before and 7 days after operation,and the predictive value of the anastomotic fistula was further analyzed.
Results The CRP levels in the observation group and the control group during 7 days after operation were higher than those before operation,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in CRP levels between the two groups on the first 1-4 days after surgery(P>0.05).The CRP level of the observation group on the 5th-7th day after operation was higher than that of the control group,the difference was statistically significant(P＜0.05).The ROC curve analysis showed that 57.05 mg/L was taken as the intercept point,and the sensitivity of the CRP level to predict the occurrence of anastomotic leakage was 81.8% at the 7th day after surgery,the specificity was 90.9%,and the area under the curve was 0.93.
Conclusion The postoperative CRP level of esophageal cancer can predict the occurrence of anastomotic fistula earlier,and it can be used as a useful index for predicting and diagnosing anastomotic fistula.

Key words: C-reactive protein, esophageal cancer, anastomotic fistula