This study aimed to investigate the incidence and prognosis of postoperative complications after laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) for gastric cancer (GC). We retrospectively enrolled 411 patients who underwent curative LTG for GC at seven institutions between January 2004 and December 2018. The patients were divided into two groups, complication group (CG) and non-complication group (non-CG), depending on the presence of serious postoperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grade III [≥ CD IIIa] or higher complications). Short-term outcomes and prognoses were compared between two groups. Serious postoperative complications occurred in 65 (15.8%) patients. No significant difference was observed between the two groups in the median operative time, intraoperative blood loss, number of lymph nodes harvested, or pathological stage; however, the 5-year overall survival (OS; CG 66.4% vs. non-CG 76.8%; p = 0.001), disease-specific survival (DSS; CG 70.1% vs. non-CG 76.2%; p = 0.011), and disease-free survival (CG 70.9% vs. non-CG 80.9%; p = 0.001) were significantly different. The Cox multivariate analysis identified the serious postoperative complications as independent risk factors for 5-year OS (HR 2.143, 95% CI 1.165-3.944, p = 0.014) and DSS (HR 2.467, 95% CI 1.223-4.975, p = 0.011). A significant difference was detected in the median days until postoperative recurrence (CG 223 days vs. non-CG 469 days; p = 0.017) between the two groups. Serious postoperative complications after LTG negatively affected the GC prognosis. Efforts to decrease incidences of serious complications should be made that may help in better prognosis in patients with GC after LTG.
Keywords: Gastric cancer; Laparoscopic total gastrectomy; Overall survival; Postoperative complications; Prognosis.
© 2022. Italian Society of Surgery (SIC).