Background: Advanced esophageal cancer is occasionally accompanied by difficulty swallowing owing to esophageal stenosis or tracheoesophageal fistula formation. Esophageal bypass surgery and stent insertion are considered feasible palliative management options. The aim of this study was to evaluate the short-term outcomes of these palliative treatments.
Materials and methods: Patient data were obtained from a large-scale inpatient database of 42 National University Hospitals in Japan. Patients with advanced esophageal cancer who underwent esophageal bypass surgery or stent insertion between April 2016 and March 2021 were included in this study. One-to-one propensity score matching of patients who underwent bypass surgery or stent insertion was performed. The primary outcomes were time to diet resumption and length of hospital stay after surgery. The secondary outcome was the incidence of postoperative complications.
Results: In 43 propensity score-matched pairs, the incidence of postoperative respiratory complications was significantly higher in the bypass group than in the stent group (32.6% vs. 9.3%, P = 0.008). Postoperative length of hospital stay was longer in the bypass group than in the stent group (24 vs. 10 d, P < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that stent insertion was associated with a decreased risk of respiratory complications (odds ratio 0.077, P < 0.007). Among patients who underwent the interventions (bypass surgery or stent insertion) and subsequently underwent anticancer therapy (chemotherapy/radiotherapy) during hospitalization, the interval between the intervention and anticancer therapy was longer in the bypass group than in the stent group (25 vs. 7 d, P = 0.003).
Conclusions: Esophageal stent insertion provides better short-term outcomes than bypass surgery in patients with advanced unresectable esophageal cancer.
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