Frequency and risk factors of surgical complications in patients with locally advanced cervical esophageal cancer

Objective. Analyze the frequency and prognostic factors of complications in patients with locally advanced cervical esophageal cancer after pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy with simultaneous reconstruction of the defect.Material and methods. The retrospective study included patients with a verified locally advanced cervical esophageal cancer who were treated at the N. N. Petrov National Research Institute of Oncology in the period from 2009 to 2018, who underwent surgical treatment followed by chemoradiotherapy. The end point of the study was the frequency of postoperative complications.Results. Forty-eight patients were included in the study. All patients underwent laryngopharyngoesophagectomy with simultaneous reconstruction of the digestive tract. Forty-one patients (85.4 %) underwent the reconstructive stage using a narrow gastric stalk, and a wide gastric stalk and a small intestine graft were used in 5 (10.4 %) and 2 (4.2 %) patients, respectively. The average duration of the operation was 390 (337.5–525.0) minutes, the volume of blood loss was 300 (200–500) ml, and the average time of hospitalization and the patient’s stay in the intensive care unit was 21.5 (16.00–36.00) and 3 (1.000–6.75) days, respectively. Complications within 30 days after surgical treatment were observed in 54.1 % of patients, while anastomosis failure, fistula formation and pneumonia were observed in 22.9 %, 12.5 % and 18.8 % of cases, respectively. Factors slightly increasing the likelihood of pneumonia in the early postoperative period were: duration of surgery [OR = 1.0 (95 % CI: 1.00–1.01), p = 0.0131] and intraoperative blood loss [OR = 1.0 (95 % CI: 1.00–1.01), p = 0.0017].Conclusion. The overall complication rate after pharyngolaryngoesophagectomy with simultaneous repair of the defect by bioengineered graft was 54.1 %. Intraoperative blood loss and duration of surgery were associated with an increased risk of complications.

Oncological results and morbidity following intended curative resection and free jejunal graft reconstruction of cervical esophageal cancer: a retrospective Danish consecutive cohort study

Summary Background The role of surgery in treatment of locally advanced cervical esophageal cancer (CEC) remains debated. In the European and American treatment guidelines, definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) is preferred over surgery, while in the Danish guidelines, the two treatment modalities are equally recommended. Surgical treatment of CEC is centralized at our center in Denmark. We present our outcomes following neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy (nCRT) when possible and resection as first-line therapy for CEC and compare with recent published dCRT results. Method We retrospectively reviewed the medical charts of patients treated for cervical esophageal cancer at Aarhus University Hospital from 2001–2018 with nCRT when possible and pharyngolaryngectomy followed by reconstruction with a free jejunal graft. Results Forty consecutive patients were included. About, 45% received nCRT. The median survival was 21 months. The overall, disease-specific and disease-free 5-year survival was 43.6%, 53.2%, and 47.4%, respectively. The rate of microscopically radical resection was 85%. The recurrence rate was 47% and 81% of recurrences were locoregional. The in-hospital and 30-day mortality rate was 0%. Major complications occurred in 27.9%. Anastomotic leakage, graft failure, fistulas and strictures occurred in 10%, 7.5%, 30%, and 30%, respectively. Conclusion Our treatment offers equal oncological results compared to the best internationally published results for dCRT for CEC. Results vary considerably between dCRT studies. Morbidity appears more pronounced following surgery. Future studies are warranted to investigate the Danish national outcomes following dCRT as first-line treatment for curable locally advanced CEC.