Efficiency of red cell distribution width in predicting severity and mortality of patients with acute pancreatitis: A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have showed that red cell distribution width (RDW) may be an inflammatory status, and it may be used to predict prognosis of acute pancreatitis (AP). However, there are no systematic reviews for the evidence, and the association between RDW and AP is still not completely understood. Therefore, we will undertake a systematic review of the literature to summarize previous evidence regarding this topic, in order to clarify the value of RDW predicting prognosis of patients with AP. METHODS: We will search EMBASE, Web of Knowledge, PubMed, ClinicalTrials.gov and Cochrane Library from their inception to Mar 2021 to retrieve relevant studies. Two authors independently judged study eligibility and extracted data. Heterogeneity will be examined by computing the Q statistic and I(2) statistic. RESULTS: This study proved the Efficiency of RDW in predicting mortality and severity of patients with AP. And provided easy method for clinical evaluation for AP patients. CONCLUSIONS: The findings of this systematic review will show the value of RDW predicting prognosis of patients with AP. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethical approval is unnecessary as this protocol is only for systematic review and does not involve privacy data. The findings of this study will be disseminated electronically through a peer-review publication or presented at a relevant conference.