Preoperative risk analysis and postoperative mortality of oesophagectomy for resectable oesophageal cancer

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Background</jats:title> <jats:p>Postoperative mortality after oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer depends largely on the preoperative physiological status of the patient.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Methods</jats:title> <jats:p>A composite scoring system to predict the risk of oesophagectomy based on objective preoperative parameters was developed based on a retrospective review of patients operated on and evaluated prospectively in two subsequent patient groups.</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Results</jats:title> <jats:p>An initial retrospective multivariate analysis of 432 patients who had oesophagectomy identified a compromised general status (P&lt;0·001) and poor cardiac (P&lt;0·001), hepatic (P&lt;0·05) and respiratory (P&lt;0·05) function as independent predictors of a fatal postoperative course. Based on the relative risk associated with the individual impaired organ functions, a composite risk score was established. A prospective study in 121 patients confirmed that this composite scoring system provides a better identification of high-risk patients than any of the individual parameters. Inclusion of the composite score into the process of patient selection and choice of the procedure resulted in a decrease of postoperative mortality rate from 9·4 per cent (52 of 553) to 1·6 per cent (four of 252) (P&lt;0·001).</jats:p> </jats:sec> <jats:sec> <jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title> <jats:p>The risk of death after oesophagectomy for oesophageal cancer can be assessed objectively before surgery and quantified by a composite risk score. This score provides a useful tool for refining the criteria of patient selection for resection or the choice of procedure.</jats:p> </jats:sec>