Background: The impact of postoperative complications (POCs) classified by the Clavien-Dindo (C-D) system on long-term survival after radical resection in patients with advanced gastric cancer (AGC) is not yet clear.
Methods: This study analyzed 531 patients with AGC who underwent radical resection in an institution between January 2015 and December 2017. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to the occurrence of POCs and recorded according to C-D classifications. The long-term survival outcomes of the entire cohort after propensity score matching (PSM) were compared.
Results: After PSM, there was no significant difference in baseline data between the complications (C) group (n = 92) and the non-complications (NC) group (n = 92). Survival analysis showed that the 5-year overall survival (OS) and relapse-free survival (RFS) were lower in the C group (48.9% vs 62.0%, P = .040; 38.5% vs 54.9%, P = .005; respectively). Subgroup analysis showed that severe complications (C-D grade > II) were associated with a decrease in 5-year OS and RFS compared with the matched NC group (40.0% vs 62.0%, P = .008; 29.4% vs 54.9%, P = .001; respectively). Multivariate analysis confirmed adjuvant chemotherapy, tumor size, and complications were independent risk factors for poor survival outcomes. Further multivariate analysis showed that older age, combined excision, and comorbidities were independent risk factors for POCs.
Conclusions: Severe complications reduced the survival outcome of patients. More attention should be paid to perioperative management of patients with high risk factors for complications.
Keywords: Clavien-Dindo classification; advanced gastric cancer; long-term survival; postoperative complication.