Clinical validation of comprehensive complication index in pancreaticoduodenectomy

Purpose Although the Clavien-Dindo classification (CDC) is the most widely utilized method for quantifying surgical complications, it fails to properly capture all events. To address this, the comprehensive complication index (CCI) was introduced. The purpose of this study was to compare the CCI and CDC as predictors of postoperative length of stay (PLOS) and total hospitalization costs in patients undergoing pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD). Methods Data were collected from February 2018 to February 2021. Complications were graded on the CDC scale and the CCI was calculated for each patient. The correlations between CDC and CCI with PLOS and hospitalization costs were compared. Linear analyses were performed to identify factors associated with PLOS and costs. Results 291 patients were enrolled with an average age of 61.2 years. 286 of them developed postoperative complications at CDC grade 1 (17.8%), 2 (59.9%), 3a (13.4%), 3b (4.5%), 4 (2.1%), and 5 (0.6%). The median CCI was 30.8 (inter-quartile range 22.6 to 38.2). The CDC and CCI were significantly correlated with PLOS and hospitalization costs, but the CCI showed a stronger correlation with PLOS (+0.552 day of stay for each additional CCI point; CCI:ρ=0.663 vs. CDC:ρ=0.581; p=0.036). There were no significant differences in the correlations between total hospitalization costs and the CDC or CCI (CCI:ρ=0.566 vs. CDC:ρ=0.565; p=0.78). Conclusion CCI is an accurate tool for quantifying morbidity after PD and shows a stronger correlation with PLOS compared with the CDC.