Inflammation Meets Nutrition: Combined Prognostic Value of Blood Based Biomarkers for Clinical Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for Ileus
Abstract
Aim: Ileus is a common surgical emergency with a heterogeneous course and early identification of patients at risk of an adverse outcome is difficult. We aimed to evaluate the combined prognostic value of inflammation- and nutrition-based biomarkers in patients hospitalized for ileus and to test whether their importance differs by ileus type and outcome.
Material and Methods: In a single center retrospective cohort of 192 adults with mechanical or paralytic ileus, admission values were used to calculate NLR, PLR, SII, PNI, albumin-to-creatinine (A/C) ratio, HALP score and C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio (CAR). The primary outcome was a composite adverse outcome (surgery, intensive care unit [ICU] admission or in hospital mortality); a secondary analysis addressed ICU requirement within the mechanical subgroup. Analyses included ROC analysis, multivariable logistic regression, DeLong AUC comparison, bootstrap internal validation and decision curve analysis.
Results: The composite outcome occurred in 91 patients (47.4%) and was strongly associated with mechanical ileus (86.8% vs 15.8%; p<0.001) and malignant etiology (p<0.001), whereas NLR and SII did not differ between groups. In the whole cohort model (optimism corrected AUC 0.911), independent predictors were mechanical type (OR 0.026, 95% CI 0.010–0.071; p<0.001), malignant etiology (OR 5.46, 95% CI 1.75–17.05; p=0.003) and CAR (OR 1.031, 95% CI 1.008–1.054; p=0.008). Within the mechanical subgroup, PNI was the only independent predictor of ICU requirement (OR 0.934, 95% CI 0.873–0.999; p=0.048; Cohen’s d=0.85).
Conclusion: In ileus, biomarker prognostic value is outcome specific: CAR predicts the global adverse outcome, whereas PNI predicts ICU requirement in mechanical ileus. These inexpensive markers may complement clinical assessment but require external validation.
Keywords
- Ileus
- bowel obstruction
- prognostic nutritional index
- C-reactive protein-to-albumin ratio
- systemic immune-inflammation index
- risk stratification
Ethical Statement
References
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Details
Primary Language
English
Subjects
Clinical Sciences (Other)
Journal Section
Research Article
Publication Date
September 22, 2026
Submission Date
June 10, 2026
Acceptance Date
August 11, 2026
Published in Issue
Year 2026 Volume: 16 Number: 3