Drain fluid amylase levels predict risk of postoperative complications

Assessment of drain fluid amylase levels on days one and three provides a reliable estimate of the risk for clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) after pancreatoduodenectomy. A study of 923 patients showed that integrating both dfa1 and dfa3 into a predictive model yielded a cross-validated area under the curve of 0.846, enabling the development of a CR-POPF risk calculator that enhances postoperative risk stratification and drain management.