A multicenter retrospective study on incidence and influencing factors of anastomotic leakage after anterior resection for rectal cancer: a report of 1 243 cases / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the incidence and influencing factors of anastomotic leakage after anterior resection (AR) for rectal cancer.Methods:The retrospective case-control study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 1 243 patients with rectal cancer who were admitted to 3 medical centers between August 2008 and July 2017 were collected, including 512 in the Beijing Friendship Hospital of Capital Medical University, 480 in the Cancer Hospital of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, 251 in the Peking University People′s Hospital. There were 734 males and 509 females, aged from 25 to 89 years, with an average age of 65 years. All patients underwent AR for rectal cancer. Observation indicators (1) surgical situations and incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage; (2) influencing factors for postoperative anastomotic leakage. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M (range). Count data were represented as absolute numbers or percentages, and comparison between groups was analyzed using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Univariate analysis was conducted using the chi-square test. Multivariate analysis was conducted using the Logistic regression model based on factors with P<0.10 in the univariate analysis. Results:(1) Surgical situations and incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage all the 1 243 patients with rectal cancer underwent successfully AR including 219 undergoing defunctioning stoma and 1 024 undergoing non-defunctioning stoma, of which 70 patients had postoperative anastomotic leakage, with a total incidence rate of 5.632%(70/1 243). The incidence rates of grade A anastomotic leakage, grade B anastomotic leakage, and grade C anastomotic leakage were 27.1%(19/70), 21.4%(15/70), 51.4%(36/70), respectively. (2) Influencing factors for postoperative anastomotic leakage results of univariate analysis showed that gender, surgical procedure, volume of intra-operative blood loss, and pathological metastasis staging were related factors for anastomotic leakage after AR ( χ2=8.518, 6.548, 10.834, 4.501, P<0.05). Results of multivariate analysis based on factors with P<0.10 in the univariate analysis showed that male and volume of intraoperative blood loss≥100 mL were independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after AR [ odds ratio ( OR)=2.250, 1.949, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 1.281-3.952, 1.142-3.324, P<0.05)]; defunctioning stoma was an independent protective factor for anastomotic leakage after AR ( OR=0.449, 95% CI 0.201-1.001, P<0.05). Subgroup analysis on effects of defunctioning stoma versus non-defunctioning stoma on grade of anastomotic leakage showed that percentage of grade C anastomotic leakage for defunctioning stoma group was 14.3%(1/7), versus 55.6%(35/63) for non-defunctioning stoma group, with a significant difference between the two groups ( χ2=9.570, P<0.05). Conclusions:Male and volume of intraoperative blood loss≥100 mL are independent risk factors for anastomotic leakage after AR. Defunctioning stoma is an independent protective factor for anastomotic leakage after AR. For male patients and patients with large volume of intraoperative blood loss, defunctioning stoma is recommended to reduce the incidence of postoperative anastomotic leakage.