Postoperative drain amylase predicts pancreatic fistula in pancreatic surgery: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and objectives: This study to evaluate the utility of drain fluid amylase as a predictor of PF in patients undergoing pancreatic surgery based on the International Study Group of Pancreatic Fistula definitions of pancreatic fistula. Methods: A comprehensive search was carried out using Pubmed (Medline), Embase, Web of science and Cochrane database for clinical trials, which studied DFA as a diagnostic marker for pancreatic fistula after pancreatic surgery. Sensitivity, specificity and the diagnostic odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were calculated for each study. Summary receiver-operating curves were conducted and the area under the curve was evaluated. Results: A total of 10 studies were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of drain fluid amylase Day 1 for the diagnosis of postoperative pancreatic fistula were 81% and 87%, respectively (area under the curve was 0.897, diagnostic odds ratios was 16.83 and 95% CI was 12.66-22.36), the pooled sensitivity and specificity of drain fluid amylase Day 3 for the diagnosis of postoperative pancreatic fistula were 56% and 79%, respectively (area under the curve was 0.668, diagnostic odds ratios was 3.26 and 95% CI was 1.83-5.82) Conclusions: The drain fluid amylase Day 1, instead of drain fluid amylase Day 3, may be a useful criterion for the early identification of postoperative pancreatic fistula, and a value of drain fluid amylase Day 1 over than 1300 U/L was a risk factor of pancreatic fistula. And the diagnostic accuracy and the proposed cut-off levels of drain fluid amylase Day 1 in predicting the postoperative pancreatic fistula will have to be validated by multicenter prospective studies. (C) 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of IJS Publishing Group Limited.