Management of Patients With High C-reactive Protein After Scheduled Resection of Colorectal Cancer (GESPACE)

February 4, 2026 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Dijon

Management of Patients With High C-reactive Protein After Scheduled Resection of Colorectal Cancer: Pilot Study

Anastomotic fistula is the most feared complication after surgical resection of colorectal cancer (CCR). It occurs in 6 to 15% of patients. Beyond the risk of death in the immediate postoperative period, the pain that it induces, the resources required for its management, the need for stomata with a negative impact on patients' quality of life and the prolongation of hospitalization, it also has a now-recognized adverse effect on long-term survival.

The early detection of this complication may limit its impact. C-reactive protein (CRP) has proved to be an early, reliable marker of the onset of infectious complications of colorectal surgery.

However, the diagnostic procedure to implement in these patients is not at all codified, since this population concerned by systematic CRP assay in the postoperative period is very recent.

The procedures to implement in these patients so that they can obtain the maximal benefit of an early diagnosis have not yet been established. An algorithm for the proactive clinical management must be drawn up to be able to confirm or rule out the presence of a fistula as soon as a high level of CRP is detected, and to propose a quick treatment to ensure that patients benefit from this early diagnosis.

Study Overview

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

105

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Dijon, France, 21079
        • Chu de Dijon

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • patients aged 18 and older,
  • with a CRP level > 140 mg/L at D3 or CRP > 125 mg/L at D4 following colon and/or rectal resection with anastomosis (protected or not by an upstream stoma)
  • without clinical signs of severe peritonitis (fever, severe sepsis, generalized abdominal contracture)
  • who have provided written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • patients who have undergone intraperitoneal chemotherapy in the context of the surgical treatment for peritoneal carcinomatosis
  • patients with a diagnosis of another infection that could explain the high CRP level,
  • patients who underwent eventration repair at the time of the colorectal resection
  • patients with an obvious indication for revisit surgery
  • persons without health insurance cover
  • adults under guardianship
  • pregnant or beast-feeding women

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Diagnostic
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Patients who underwent open decompression surgery
blood sample will be collected
CT scan

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
proportion of patients with total hospitalization of less than 15 days during the first postoperative month
Time Frame: 45 days
45 days

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

April 17, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

December 15, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 27, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 27, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

March 31, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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