PS02.167: IMPACT OF POSTOPERATIVE COMPLICATIONS AFTER RESECTION OF ESOPHAGUS FOR CARCINOMA ON LONG-TERM SURVIVAL
Abstract Background Esophagectomy with 2–3 field lymph node dissection is one of the most invasive surgical treatment for malignancy and is still associated with a high mortality and morbidity despite improvements in surgical techniques and postoperative management. The impact of postoperative complications on perioperative morbidity is widely accepted. But the impact of postoperative complications on long-term survival remains controversial. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed on patient who underwent transthoracic esophagectomy with intrathoracic anastomosis for esophageal cancer between January 2005 and December 2012 in our department (415 patients). We excluded non-radical resections (R1, R2 – 27 patients, 6.5%) and patients who died within 90 day after operation (20 patients, 4.8%). Data on gender, BMI, histologic diagnosis, tumor staging, neoadjuvant treatment, comorbidities, technical complications and postoperative medical complications were reviewed. Considered postoperative complications were anastomotic leak, empyema, chyle leak, pneumonia, ARDS, cardiac arrhythmia, wound infection and urinary tract infection. We analysed separately extrapolated serious complications Clavien Dindo 3–4 and their possible impact on overall survival. Prognostic factors were assessed by multivariate analysis. Results Total number of analysed patients was 363. The median follow up was 8.5 years. From the baseline characteristics, the presence of atrial fibrillation (P = 0.0157, HR 2.376) and hypertension (P = 0.0093, HR 1.488), higher staging pT3–4 (0.0146, HR 1.437) and presence of lymph node metastasis pN + (P < 0.001, HR 2.263) had a negative impact on overall survival. Among the postoperative complications, only chyle leak (P = 0.0327, HR 4.023) had a negative prognostic factor on overall survival. Conclusion In this single institution series, among the postoperative complications only chylothorax affect negatively the overall survival. Accurate ligation of resected thoracic duct stumps to minimize chyle leak is important to improve outcomes. The influence of others postoperative complications wasn’t significant. We assume important to exclude postoperative mortality from analysis to prevent bias. Disclosure All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.