Purpose: The aims of this pilot study were to reveal the biological characteristics of serum I-FABP and explore its clinical utility as a biomarker in patients with small bowel obstruction (SBO). Methods: Serum I-FABP levels were measured in 37 consecutive patients with SBO between 2007 and 2008. Serum I-FABP levels were compared between ischemia (n = 10) and non-ischemia (n = 27) groups. Serum I-FABP levels were longitudinally analyzed in 21 patients who showed high (>2.0 ng/ml) serum I-FABP levels. The relationship between serum I-FABP level and length of damaged bowel was also analyzed. Results: Median serum I-FABP levels were 9.2 ng/ml in the ischemia group and 1.9 ng/ml in the non-ischemia group (p < 0.0001). The elevated I-FABP levels rapidly decreased after therapeutic intervention and normalized on the third day in all patients. Linear regression analysis revealed a positive correlation between I-FABP levels and lengths of surgically excised bowels (y = 2.527x - 7.660, r = 0.604, p = 0.0018). By setting the cutoff level at 7.2 ng/ml, the diagnostic ability of serum I-FABP was 70.0% in terms of sensitivity, 92.6% in terms of specificity, and 86.5% in terms of accuracy. Conclusion: Serum I-FABP sensitively reflects bowel damage in SBO patients and seems to be a potential biomarker for detecting small-bowel ischemia.
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