Clinical impact of creatine phosphokinase and c-reactive protein as predictors of postgastrectomy complications in patients with gastric cancer

Abstract Background Postoperative complications have been linked to the morbidity and mortality of several cancers. However, predicting whether complications will occur in the early period after surgery or not is challenging. Hence, this study aimed to examine the diagnostic accuracy of serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and c-reactive protein (CRP) in predicting the development of postgastrectomy complications. Methods We retrospectively analyzed 188 patients with gastric cancer (GC) who underwent gastrectomy. The diagnostic accuracy of serum CPK and CRP was investigated using the areas under the curves (AUC). The CPK ratio was defined as the CPK on postoperative day (POD) 1 to the CPK on a preoperative day. Results Out of 188 patients, 48 (25.5%) developed postoperative complications. The complications group had a greater operative time (p = 0.037), higher CPK ratio on POD1 (p