Preoperative serum albumin level is well recognized as a general predictor of adverse surgical outcomes in patients with gastrointestinal (GI) malignancy. Whether serum albumin or prealbumin levels can better predict postoperative surgical complications and death remains unknown. A retrospective review of 641 consecutive patients operated nonemergently for GI malignancies between January 1, 1997, and July 31, 2008, disclosed that 104 patients (16.2%) had complications and 23 (3.6%) subsequently died. All 641 patients had preoperative determination of serum albumin level (cost $0.13 per test), whereas 379 (59.1%) also had preoperative determination of serum prealbumin level (cost $2.27 per test). An albumin level below the discriminatory threshold of 3.2 g/dL was a significant predictor of overall postoperative morbidity, infectious and noninfectious complications, and mortality (all P < 0.001). In contrast, a prealbumin level below the discriminatory threshold of 18 mg/dL was a predictor of only overall morbidity ( P = 0.014) and infectious complications ( P = 0.024), but not of noninfectious complications or mortality ( P = nonsignificant). We conclude that compared with the preoperative serum prealbumin level, the albumin level has superior predictive value for overall postoperative morbidity, both infectious and noninfectious complications, and mortality. The inclusion of serum prealbumin level in the routine preoperative testing of patients with GI malignancy for the purpose of predicting postoperative outcomes is neither clinically necessary nor cost-effective.

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