Risk Factors of Postoperative Complication and Prognostic Factors in Aged Patients with Resectable Gastric Cancer by Using Multivariate Analyses

Akinori Takagane, Masanori Terashima, Hitoshi Yonezawa, Takashi Irinoda, Kaoru Abe, Munemitsu Araya, Tsutomu Nakaya, Kenichi Oyama, Osamu Shimooki and Kazuyoshi Saito

Department of Surgery 1, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University

In order to identify risk factors of postoperative complications and prognostic factors in aged (75 years and older) resectable gastric cancer patients, the cases of 78 aged patients who underwent gastrectomy from 1986 to 1997 were analyzed by multivariate analyses. Volume of intraoperative bleeding (X₁) and preoperative number of red blood cells (X₂) were identified as significant risk factors for postoperative complications by logistic regression analysis. The discriminant function was as follows: Z=0.0011X₁-0.0027X₂+0.3342. Therefore, these findings indicate that it is possible to prevent postoperative complications by controlling intraoperative bleeding. Curability was identified as the most important prognostic factor in aged gastric cancer patients by Cox's proportional hazard model. These results suggest that operations aimed at curability A including D2 lymph node dissections can be done for aged patients who have favorable preoperative general conditions, although effort to minimize intraoperative bleeding is required.

Key words
aged patients with gastric cancer, postoperative complications of gastric cancer, prognontic factors of gastric cancer, multivariate analysis of gastric cancer, curative operation of gastric
cancer

Reprint requests
Akinori Takagane Department of Surgery 1, School of Medicine, I wate Medical University 19-1 Uchimaru, Morioka, 020-8805 JAPAN

Accepted
January 27, 1999

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