Risk factors for early postoperative morbidity and mortality in patients underwent radical surgery for gastric carcinoma: A single center experience

Background: Aim of this study is to analyze the incidence and risk factors for early postoperative morbidity and mortality that occur after gastric carcinoma surgery. Materials and methods: All consecutive patients with gastric adenocarcinoma resected with curative intent between 2005 and 2011 were included to a retrospective analysis. Patient, disease and operation related parameters were questioned as risk factors for postoperative morbidity and mortality. Results: A total of 160 patients (103 [64.8%] male and the average age was 62.4 +/- 11.5) were abstracted. Early postoperative morbidity, operation related morbidity and mortality were observed in 46 (28.7%), 31 (19.4%) and 19 (11.9%) cases, respectively. No other factors but ASA score was found to be a risk factor for overall morbidity (p = 0.021 and 0.033 in univariate and multivariate analyses, respectively). The incidence of anastomotic leak was increasing in patients who received a D2 dissection in univariate analysis (p = 0.039), but not in multivariate calculation. There were no factors effecting surgical site infection risk. Although univariate analysis revealed that age over 70 (p = 0.008), ASA score (p = 0.018), operation time (p = 0.032), D2 dissection (p = 0.026) and type of anastomosis (p = 0.023) were effecting the risk for early mortality, multivariate analysis showed that age was the only risk factor (p = 0.005). Conclusion: Current study has revealed that early morbidity and mortality are not rare after gastric cancer surgery with curative intent. Since multivariate analyses have revealed that ASA score and older age may be only risk factors for postoperative morbidity and 30-day mortality, respectively; it may be logical to consider these factors during the preoperative decision making in patients with gastric cancer. (C) 2013 Surgical Associates Ltd. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.