Impact of obesity on early surgical and oncologic outcomes after total gastrectomy with "over-D1" lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer.

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of the present study was to assess the impact of body mass index (BMI) on perioperative and pathologic outcomes after total gastrectomy with "over-D1" dissection for gastric cancer.

METHODS

Data on 161 patients undergoing total gastrectomy between 2005 and 2011 were reviewed. Patients were grouped into three categories by BMI: BMI < 25 kg/m(2) (63 normal-weight patients; 39.1 %), BMI ≥ 25-<30 kg/m(2) (73 overweight patients; 45.3 %), and BMI ≥ 30 kg/m(2) (25 obese patients; 15.6 %) and matched for the analysis of perioperative and cancer-related outcomes.

RESULTS

Operative time was longer for obese patients. Medical (mainly pulmonary) and surgical (mainly bleeding and wound infection) complications occurred more frequently in overweight/obese subjects. However, they were mostly managed conservatively (grade I-II in the Clavien-Dindo classification). The overall postoperative mortality was 0.9 %. Multivariate analysis identified the American Society of Anesthesiologists score and splenectomy, but not obesity, as independent risk factors for postoperative complications. The median number of lymph nodes retrieved differed significantly from group to group: obese 21 (IQR 18-26), versus overweight 24, versus normal weight 28 (p = 0.031). No difference was found in lymph node ratio and cancer-related parameters.

CONCLUSIONS

Obese patients with operable gastric cancer can be candidates for standard extensive surgical resection, provided that pre-existing co-morbidities and potential intraoperative and postoperative complications are considered.