Sarcopaenia is a Useful Risk Stratification Tool for Surgeons to Prognosticate Splenic Abscess Patients
Sarcopaenia is a Useful Risk Stratification Tool for Surgeons to Prognosticate Splenic Abscess Patients
Sarcopaenia is associated with poor prognoses of in-hospital mortality in splenic abscess
 patients. Investigators recommend its use by surgeons in the ED to rapidly risk stratify and
 identify patients requiring urgent and aggressive intervention, to maximise patient outcomes
 and survival chances.
Splenic abscess is a life-threatening surgical emergency which requires early diagnosis and
 intervention to maximise patient outcomes. This can be achieved through accurate risk
 stratification in the emergency department (ED). Sarcopaenia refers to an age-related loss of
 skeletal muscle mass and strength with major physiologic and clinical ramifications. This
 study evaluates sarcopaenia as a radiological risk stratification tool to predict in-hospital
 mortality of splenic abscess patients.

 99 adult patients at four training and research hospitals who had undergone abdominal
 contrast CT scans in the ED with the final diagnosis of splenic abscess from January 2005 to
 December 2015 were recruited. Evaluation for sarcopaenia was performed via calculating psoas
 cross-sectional area at level of L3 and normalising for height. Univariate analyses were used
 to evaluate the differences between survivors and non-survivors, with subsequent logistic
 regression analysis to assess odds ratio of sarcopaenia with respect to in-hospital
 mortality. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was plotted to determine
 predictability of sarcopaenia, with its corresponding sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy
 rate calculated.
Inclusion Criteria:

 All adult patients older than 20 years of age admitted to the aforementioned hospitals who
 had undergone an abdominal contrast CT scan in the ED with the final diagnosis of splenic
 abscess from January 2005 to December 2015

 Exclusion Criteria:

 Patients who could not be assessed for sarcopaenia in line with our study methodology
 and/or had other coexisting infections were excluded. Patients with abscesses involving the
 psoas muscles were also excluded.