Skeletal Muscle Mass Index Predicts Postoperative Complications in Intestinal Surgery for Crohn's Disease

Abstract

We present the largest published cohort investigating SMI with regard to major postoperative morbidity in surgery for CD. In multivariable analysis, SMI was the only significant risk factor for Clavien-Dindo complications grade ≥III. Lumbar SMI was reliably determined by CT and MRI alike. Because preoperative abdominal imaging with either modality is common for patients with CD, SMI could be a reliable and largely available tool to stratify the risk of postoperative complications.