The predictive value of the C-reactive protein/albumin ratio in adult patients with complicated appendicitis

Objectives The purpose of this study was to analyze the role of C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CRP/ALB) in the diagnosis of complicated appendicitis in adults.Methods A retrospective analysis of 202 patients with acute appendicitis admitted to the Emergency Department of Weifang People's Hospital between January 2021 and December 2022 was conducted. Patients were classified into complicated appendicitis group (CA) and non-complicated appendicitis group (NCA) based on postoperative pathological diagnosis, and the two groups were compared in terms of preoperative age, gender, white blood cell count (WBCC), C-reactive protein/albumin ratio (CRP/ALB), serum sodium (Na), and fibrinogen (FIB).Results The 202 cases of acute appendicitis in this study, 36.6 % (n=74) were CA. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that CPR/ALB (p= 0.001), FIB (p<0.001), and Na (p=0.011) were risk factors for complicated appendicitis. The results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, conducted to evaluate the role of CRP/ALB, Na, and FIB in detecting CA, showed that the area under the curve (AUC) of CRP/ALB was 0.871, which was higher than that of FIB and Na. CRP/ALB ratio = 1.04 was an important indicator for predicting complicated appendicitis, with a sensitivity of 78.2 % and specificity of 84.7 %.Conclusions CRP/ALB ratio can serve as a good indicator for predicting complicated appendicitis.