THE IMPORTANCE OF THE NEUTROPHIL TO LYMPHOCYTE RATIO AS A PREDICTIVE FACTOR FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF INTESTINAL NECROSIS IN PATIENTS WITH INCISIONAL HERNIAS

The aim of the present study was to establish the importance as a predictive factor of the NLR (neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio) for the occurrence of intestinal necrosis in patients with incisional hernias. Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective study including 141 patients over a 3-year period in which we analyzed the values of NLR. Results: Thus, we noticed that there is a direct, statistically significant correlation between the NLR and the indication of small bowel resection in patients with incisional hernias. Depending on the binary variable resection yes or no, we set a cutoff threshold of 2.553 with predictive value, threshold for which we have the best values of sensitivity and specificity as performance parameters. Over this threshold the sensitivity increases, so the patients or the risk of resection is highly appreciated, AUC=0.853 (CI 95%=0.784 to 0.907), p<0.001. Conclusions: Increased NLR values may play a particularly important role in predicting the existence of intestinal necrosis in patients with incisional hernias. NLR values above 2,553 are commonly associated with the appearance of necrosis or ischemia in the small intestine in these patients.