The usefulness of presepsin in the diagnosis of postoperative infectious complications after gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a prospective cohort study

This prospective study aimed to evaluate presepsin use as a biomarker of on postoperative infectious complications after gastrectomy, compared to C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cells (WBCs), and neutrophils (Neuts). Overall, 108 patients were enrolled between October 2019 and December 2020. Presepsin, CRP, WBC, and Neut levels were measured preoperatively and on postoperative days (PODs) 1, 3, 5, and 7, using a postoperative morbidity survey. Grade II or higher infectious complications occurred in 18 patients (16.6%). Presepsin levels on all evaluated PODs were significantly higher in the infectious complication group than in the non-complication group (p = 0.002, p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001, and p = 0.025, respectively). The area under the curve (AUC) values were the highest for presepsin on PODs 3 and 7 (0.89 and 0.77, respectively) and similar to that of CRP, with a high value > 0.8 (0.86) on POD 5. For presepsin, the optimal cut-off values were 298 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 83.3%), 278 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 82.2%), and 300 pg/mL (sensitivity, 83.3%; specificity, 82%) on PODs 3, 5, and 7, respectively. Presepsin levels on PODs 3, 5, and 7 after gastrectomy is a more useful biomarker of postoperative infectious complications compared to CRP, WBCs, and Neuts, with a high sensitivity and specificity.