Visceral Obesity Determined by CT As a Predictor of Short-term Postoperative Complications in Ovarian Cancer

Objective: To explore the association between visceral obesity and short-term postoperative complications in patients with advanced ovarian cancer undergoing cytoreductive surgery.Methods: Medical records were reviewed for patients with ovarian cancer. Visceral fat area, subcutaneous fat area and total fat area were measured on a single slice at the level of L3/4 of a preoperative CT scan. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed to investigate the correlation between visceral obesity and short-term complications and to analyze the risk factors for complications after surgery.Results: Of the 130 patients, 53.8% (70/130) were presented visceral obesity. Patients with visceral obesity were older than those with nonvisceral obesity (58.3 years old vs. 52.3 years old, p = 0.001). The proportion of patients with hypertension was slightly higher (37.1% vs. 11.7%, p = 0.001). The total fat area and subcutaneous fat area were higher in patients with visceral obesity (296.9 ± 72.1 vs. 173.1 ± 67.3, p < 0.001; 168.8 ± 55.5 vs. 121.6 ± 54.3, p < 0.001). Compared with patients in the nonvisceral obese group, patients in the visceral obese group were more likely to have postoperative fever (21/70 30.0% vs. 8/60 1.25%, p = 0.023), leading to a longer length of hospital stay (21 days vs. 17 days, p = 0.009). Time from surgery to adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with visceral obesity has been delayed (24 days vs. 20 days, p = 0.037). Multivariate analysis showed that visceral obesity (OR 4.770, p < 0.001) and operation time (OR 1.008, p < 0.001) were independent predictors of postoperative complications. Conclusion: Visceral obesity is an important risk factor for short-term postoperative complications in patients with advanced ovarian cancer undergoing cytoreductive surgery.