The predictive ability of interleukin-6 for infection after major surgery

Abstract

Objective The aim was to evaluate the role of interleukin (IL)-6 in prediction of infection after major surgeries. Background An early sensitive and specific marker for postoperative infection would be of interest. The cytokines such as IL-6 and IL-10 have been shown to relate to the severity of postoperative sepsis and patient outcome. Patients and methods The study was conducted prospectively at Shebin Elkom Teaching hospital in the period from January 2015 to October 2016 on 50 consecutive patients undergoing elective major surgical procedures. Septic complications were recorded for 4 days postoperatively. For evaluation, patients were allocated into two groups on the basis of signs of sepsis: group A with signs of infection and group B without infection. Cytokine levels were measured after the clinical data were recorded. All data were then analyzed. Results IL-6 specificity and sensitivity were 90 and 100%, respectively. The difference in IL-6 concentrations in patients with infection on day 2 and day 4 was significant (P=0.015). The correlation between IL-6 levels and infection was significant (r’s=0.55). IL-6 levels on days 2 and 4 were significantly higher in patients with infection than in those without infection (P