Is albumin a predictor of severity and mortality in patients with abdominal sepsis?

BACKGROUND: Patients with a lower level of albumin have a more severe infection, the level of said biomarker is a strong predictor of mortality. OBJECTIVE: To determine the usefulness of the serum albumin level as a predictor of severity and mortality. METHODS: Retrospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study of patients diagnosed with abdominal sepsis. During the period from April 2016-February 2017. The severity was determined by Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Mannheim and mortality. The sample was divided into those with albumin > 2.9 mg/dl and < 2.8 mg/dl. RESULTS: We included 155 cases, 62 female and 93 male; the main organ causing abdominal sepsis was the appendix 42%. The average albumin for the sample was 3.2 mg/dl (DE ± 0.9). The findings, subjected to statistical verification by means of the Mann-Whitney test, showed statistical significance among the cases with albumin < 2.8 mg/dl with those have ranged Mannheim > 26 points (p = 0.001), APACHE > 15 (p = 0.015) and SOFA > 6 (p = 0.001), No statistical significance was obtained between albumin level < 2.8, and mortality (p = 0.052). CONCLUSION: Albumin can be considered as a predictor of severity, although not as a predictor of mortality.