# The value of D-dimer and platelet-lymphocyte ratio combined with CT signs for predicting intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction

## TL;DR

Combining D-dimer, PLR, and CT signs improves predicting intestinal ischemia in bowel obstruction patients.

## Contribution

Demonstrates that combining D-dimer, PLR, and specific CT signs improves diagnostic accuracy for intestinal ischemia.

## Key findings

- D-dimer, PLR, and two CT signs are independent risk factors for intestinal ischemia.
- The combined model (D-dimer, PLR, and CT signs) has an AUC of 0.925 for predicting intestinal ischemia.
- The combined model shows 79.2% sensitivity and 91.2% specificity for diagnosis.

## Abstract

To investigate the diagnostic value of D-dimer, platelet-lymphocyte rate (PLR) and CT signs for intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction.

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical and imaging data of 105 patients diagnosed with bowel obstruction, and performed univariate and multivariate analyses to determine the independent risk factors for intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction. Moreover, the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was plotted to examine the diagnostic value of D-dimer, PLR and CT signs in patients with bowel obstruction. Besides, Kappa tests were used to assess inter-observer agreement.

We included 56 men (53%) and 49 women (47%) with mean age of 66.05 ± 16 years. Univariate and multivariate analyses showed that D-dimer, PLR and two significant CT signs (i.e., increased unenhanced bowel-wall attenuation and mesenteric haziness) were independent risk factors for intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction. ROC analysis showed that the combined use of D-dimer, PLR and the said two CT signs had better performance than single indicators in predicting intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction. The area under the curve (AUC) of the joint model III was 0.925 [95%CI: 0.876–0.975], with a sensitivity of 79.2% [95CI%: 67.2–91.1] and a specificity of 91.2% [95%CI: 83.7–98.9].

The combined use of D-dimer, PLR and CT signs has high diagnostic value for intestinal ischemia in patients with bowel obstruction and will prompt surgical exploration to evaluate intestinal blood flow.