Abstract:Objective To explore the correlation among neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (preoperative NLR), lymphocyte-monocyte ratio (preoperative LMR) and the occurrence of anastomotic leakage after radical operation of locally advanced rectal cancer. Methods A total of 368 patients with locally advanced rectal cancer who underwent radical resection from January 2016 to December 2018 were enrolled in the study. NLR, LMR, age, gender, body mass index, tumor pathological stage, lymph node stage, differentiation, venous invasion, blood loss, defecation time and the first eating time were used as the observation indexes. Results Univariate analysis showed that preoperative NLR, postoperative NLR, postoperative NLR/preoperative NLR,postoperative LMR, postoperative LMR/preoperative LMR, blood loss, age and BMI were associated with AL (P < 0.05). Other factors such as gender, preoperative LMR, pathology stage, lymph node stage, differentiation, venous invasion, defecation time and the first eating time were not related to AL (P > 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that preoperative NLR, postoperati ve NLR, postoperative NLR/preoperative NLR, age and BMI were associated with AL (P < 0.05). Conclusion The preoperative NLR, postoperative NLR, change of NLR ratio (postoperative NLR/preoperative NLR), age and BMI are the independent risk factors of postoperative anastomotic leakage in locally advanced rectal cancer patients. While preoperative NLR ≥ 6.34, AL is more likely to occur (P < 0.05).