This study aimed to explore the early diagnostic value of lymphocyte count in the early diagnosis of surgical site infection (SSI) following posterior lumbar fusion. In this study, we retrospectively analyzed the data from a total of 37 patients with lumbar SSI from Guizhou Province Orthopaedic Hospital and Nanyang Central Hospital, 2008.1-2018.11, and 104 patients without SSI. We analyzed the C-reactive protein (CRP) level, white blood cell count (WBC) and differential count before instrumented lumbar fusion at 3 and 7 days postoperatively. The significance of the differences was evaluated by one-way ANOVA, followed by Fisher's test. The parameters mentioned above were analyzed on postoperative days 3 and 7 using the receiver operating characteristic curve and the area under the curve (AUC). Furthermore, the analyses were conducted by SPSS 22.0 software. The lymphocyte count in the SSI group on postoperative day 3 was significantly lower than that in the no-SSI group after surgery (p=0.000). According to the ROC curve analysis of related parameters on postoperative day 3, the AUC value of lymphocytes (0.840) was significantly larger than the AUC value of C-reactive protein (0.749). The lymphocyte count and C-reactive protein level on postoperative day 3 are reliable predictors of infection.
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