Background: Postoperative infectious complications increase disease recurrence in colorectal cancer patients. We herein investigated the impact of infectious complications on gastric cancer recurrence after curative surgery.
Methods: In total, 502 patients who underwent R0 resection for gastric cancer were reviewed. Patients were classified into those with infectious complications (IC group) and those without infectious complications (NO group). The risk factors for recurrence-free survival (RFS) were identified.
Results: Infectious complications, which occurred in 52 patients (10.4%), included pneumonia, ileus with a systemic inflammatory reaction, anastomotic leakage, and intraperitoneal abscess. The overall 5-year RFS rate was 83% in the NO group and 58% in the IC group (p = 0.000). Multivariate analysis demonstrated that age, ASA score, stage, and infectious complications were significant predictors of RFS.
Conclusions: Infectious complications were a risk factor for gastric cancer recurrence. To avoid causing infectious complications, the surgical procedure, surgical strategy, and perioperative care should be carefully planned.