Assessment of Relation Between Recurrence of Enterocutaneous Fistula and Preoperative C-reactive Protein Level After Complete Surgical Repair
Assessment of Relation Between Recurrence of Enterocutaneous Fistula and Preoperative C-reactive Protein Level After Complete Surgical Repair
A prospective study of 40 patients admitted with the diagnosis of enterocutaneous fistula and
 prepared for definite surgical repair in the form of resection anastomosis of ECF. The
 investigators used preoperative serum C-reactive protein as predicting factor to recurrence
 and independent variable for timing of surgery.
There is a controversy in timing of operation. The timing depends on clinical assessment,
 laboratory tests and radiological investigations. The cornerstone of this decision is to
 control sepsis and inflammatory condition before surgery. This issue made surgeons favor
 longer interval between incidence of ECF and definite surgical treatment. In some cases there
 may be a hidden place for infection or continuation of the inflammatory situation without
 clear signs, which necessitated the presence of a possible indicator helps in making the
 surgical decision. Serum C-reactive protein is the common inflammatory marker used to exclude
 inflammatory condition. Although its level is within normal range but some cases showed high
 recurrence rate when the level exceeded certain as the investigators believed in their study.
 Now the investigators can say that the perioperative serum C-reactive protein level can be
 used as an objective parameter for helping to make surgical decision and reduce recurrence of
 ECF.
Inclusion Criteria:

 -  patients with ECF were included in the study

 Exclusion Criteria:

 -  Cases submitted for surgical treatment with protecting stoma or terminal were excluded
 from our study. Other fistulas like perianal, pancreatic, biliary and internal
 fistulas were not involved due to their different nature, treatment and prognosis