Preoperative hs-CRP/HDL ratio is associated with increased risk for postoperative SIRS in elderly patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) greatly affects postoperative lives of afflicted aged patients. This study aimed to determine whether preoperative high hs-CRP/HDL ratio (CHR) was associated with an increased risk of postoperative SIRS in the elderly population.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included data on patients aged ≥ 65 years who underwent general anesthesia surgery at two clinical centers between January 2015 and September 2020. The primary exposure was preoperative CHR which was divided into two groups (≤ 12.82 and > 12.82) based on its normal range in our hospital, and the primary outcome was the incidence of postoperative SIRS. Targeted maximum likelihood estimation analyses were used to model the exposure-outcome relationship.

Results: The analysis included 5595 elderly patients, of whom 1410 (25.20%) developed SIRS within three postoperative days. Targeted maximum likelihood estimation analysis revealed that elderly patients with CHR > 12.82 vs. CHR ≤ 12.82 was associated with increased risk of postoperative SIRS (aOR = 1.40, 95% CI [1.33, 1.48], P < 0.001). Those results were consistent both in subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses. Compared with patients with CHR ≤ 12.82, patients with CHR > 12.82 had a higher prevalence of postoperative SIRS (49.06% vs. 22.70%), postoperative in-hospital mortality (3.40% vs. 0.65%), a longer hospital stay after surgery [10 (IQR, 6-16) vs. 8 (IQR, 5-11) days] and higher direct medical cost [10070 (IQR, 6878-15577) vs. 7117 (IQR, 4079-10314) euros, all P < 0.001].

Conclusions: In elderly patients, preoperative CHR > 12.82 was significantly associated with a higher risk of postoperative SIRS.