Muscle mass ratio in male gastric cancer patients as an independent predictor of postoperative complications after minimally invasive distal gastrectomy

Background The current study aimed to investigate the relationship between muscle mass proportion and the incidence of total complications in male gastric cancer (GC) patients after minimally invasive distal gastrectomy (MIDG). Methods Between March 2017 and March 2020, 152 male GC patients with clinical stage III or lower GC who underwent MIDG were enrolled in this study. The muscle mass ratio (MMR) was calculated by dividing the total muscle weight obtained from bioelectrical impedance analysis by the whole-body weight. Thereafter, the association between MMR and surgical outcomes was determined. Results Based on the optimal MMR cutoff value of 0.712 obtained using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, patients were divided into two groups (69 and 83 patients in the MMR-L and MMR-H groups). The MMR-L group had a significantly higher total complication rate compared to the MMR-H group (MMR-L, 24.6% vs. MMR-H, 7.2%; P = 0.005). Multivariate analysis also identified MMR-L as a significant independent risk factor for total complications and intra-abdominal infectious complications after MIDG. Conclusions The MMR calculated using bioelectrical impedance analysis can be a useful predictor for postoperative complications after MIDG in male GC patients.