Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Aug 27, 2025; 17(8): 105112
Published online Aug 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i8.105112
Preoperative interleukin-17a as a predictor of acute pancreatitis after pancreaticoduodenectomy
Jie Zheng, Wei-Kang Ye, Jin Wang, Yi-Nong Zhou, Ting-Ting Yu
Jie Zheng, Wei-Kang Ye, Jin Wang, Yi-Nong Zhou, Department of Pancreatology, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China
Ting-Ting Yu, Department of Cardiothoracic, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China
Co-first authors: Jie Zheng and Wei-Kang Ye.
Author contributions: Zheng J was responsible for core experiments and data analysis; Ye WK made equal contributions to experimental design and manuscript writing (meeting the criteria for co-first authorship); Wang J and Zhou YN contributed to the conception and design of the study, data collection, and analysis, and assisted in the interpretation of data and drafting the manuscript; Yu TT was responsible for project guidance, interpretation of the clinical implications, critical revisions to the manuscript and finalization of the manuscript; all authors read and approved the final manuscript; Yu TT is the corresponding author, and the designation of Yu TT as the corresponding author for this manuscript reflects her contribution to this complex retrospective study, as she was responsible for project guidance and finalization of the manuscript. Zheng J and Ye WK contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Quzhou People’s Hospital, with the approval number L-IRB (2021-09-157). All procedures involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Informed consent statement: This study was exempt from the requirement of informed consent due to its retrospective design and use of anonymized data, in accordance with the guidelines set by the Institutional Review Board.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest regarding the publication of this article.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ting-Ting Yu, Department of Cardiothoracic, The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People's Hospital, No. 100 Minjiang Avenue, Kecheng District, Quzhou 324000, Zhejiang Province, China. tingtingyudr@yeah.net
Received: February 12, 2025
Revised: March 24, 2025
Accepted: July 10, 2025
Published online: August 27, 2025
Processing time: 194 Days and 4.7 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a potentially life-threatening complication of pancreaticoduodenectomy that increases morbidity and mortality in patients. Interleukin-17A (IL-17a) the potential preoperative marker for predicting postoperative outcomes. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively assess the prognostic value of preoperative IL-17a level in prediction of AP and related postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) following pancreaticoduodenectomy.

AIM

To retrospectively assess the prognostic value of preoperative IL-17a levels in predicting AP and related POPF following pancreaticoduodenectomy.

METHODS

Retrospective analysis of pancreaticoduodenectomies performed on patients 150 patients between 2017 and 2023. Clinical data including pre-operative IL-17a levels were collected. The primary composite outcomes were postoperative AP and postoperative pancreatic (PP), and the predictive performances of IL-17a levels and fluid load status for postoperative complications were evaluated by statistical analysis.

RESULTS

A total of 150 patients were included, and 26 patients (17.3%) developed postoperative AP and 34 patients (22.7%) developed PP. Preoperative IL-17a was a risk factor for postoperative AP (P = 0.03). Furthermore, excessive intraoperative fluid load was a significantly associated (P = 0.01) with PP. The model (IL-17a levels + fluid load status) was highly accurate.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative IL-17a levels and intravascular volume status may serve as useful predictors of AP and subsequent PP following PD. These parameters provide means to evaluate preoperative risk and may guide clinical decision making to enhance postoperative recovery.

Keywords: Acute pancreatitis; Pancreaticoduodenectomy; Interleukin-17A; Fluid load; Postoperative pancreatic fistula

Core Tip: Preoperative interleukin-17A (IL-17a) levels independently predict post pancreatectomy acute pancreatitis and related postoperative pancreatic fistula after pancreaticoduodenectomy. Elevated IL-17a reflects inflammatory status, aiding risk stratification and guiding preoperative optimization and postoperative monitoring. Combining IL-17a with fluid management improves predictive accuracy, offering a practical tool for reducing complications.