Ana L. Bugarin-Arellano, Departamento de Cirugía General, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Luis R. Ramírez-González, Departamento de Cirugía General, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Luis O. Suárez-Carreón, Departamento de Cirugía General, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Noelia E. López-Bernal, Unidad de Investigación Biomédica 02, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Paulina García de León-Flores, Unidad de Investigación Biomédica 02, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Alejandro González-Ojeda, Unidad de Investigación Biomédica 02, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Clotilde Fuentes-Orozco, Unidad de Investigación Biomédica 02, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Unidad Médica de Alta Especialidad, Centro Médico Nacional de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, México
Objective: To evaluate the predictive value of the lactate/albumin ratio (LAR) for mortality in patients with abdominal sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study to validate the diagnostic test for abdominal sepsis. Patients over 18 years old with a diagnosis of abdominal sepsis admitted to the ICU. The LAR was calculated in the first 24 hours of admission to the ICU to evaluate its prognostic value for mortality. Results: We included 85 patients diagnosed with abdominal sepsis. The main causes of abdominal sepsis are secondary to closed abdominal trauma with hollow organ injury in 22 patients (26%) and severe acute pancreatitis in 21 (25%) patients. The LAR was calculated with a cutoff point of 1.04 as a predictor of mortality for abdominal sepsis, with 90.6% sensitivity, 72.5% specificity, 66.5% positive predictive value and 92.75% negative predictive value. Conclusions: The LAR may be useful in patients with abdominal sepsis as a quick, easy, and inexpensive prognostic marker of mortality, compared to other scales that require multiple values for their performance.
Keywords: Abdominal sepsis. Mortality. Albumin-lactate index.