Chen SS, Dong ZB, Xiang HT, Chen ZW, Chen TC, Huang JR, Liang C, Yu WM. Analysis of risk factors for dysphagia in patients after laparoscopic radical gastrectomy. World J Gastrointest Surg 2025; 17(2): 98535 [DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i2.98535]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Chao Liang, PhD, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, No. 57 Xingning Road, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. movingstar-lchao@163.com
Research Domain of This Article
Surgery
Article-Type of This Article
Retrospective Study
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Sang-Sang Chen, Zhe-Bin Dong, Han-Ting Xiang, Zheng-Wei Chen, Tian-Ci Chen, Jia-Rong Huang, Chao Liang, Wei-Ming Yu, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Chao Liang and Wei-Ming Yu.
Author contributions: Chen SS designed the study and was primarily responsible for writing the manuscript; Dong ZB and Chen TC collected and organized the data; Chen ZW and Xiang HT analyzed the data; Xiang HT controlled the quality of the data; Huang JR participated in the revision of the manuscript; Liang C and Yu WM supervised the entire study, reviewed and revised the manuscript, and they contributed equally to this paper and are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Lihuili Hospital of Ningbo University, approval No. KY2024SL216-01.
Informed consent statement: The informed consent was waived by the Institutional Review Board.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The datasets used and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request. Due to privacy concerns, access to the data will be granted under compliance with appropriate agreements.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Chao Liang, PhD, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Affiliated Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, No. 57 Xingning Road, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. movingstar-lchao@163.com
Received: July 3, 2024 Revised: November 22, 2024 Accepted: December 20, 2024 Published online: February 27, 2025 Processing time: 205 Days and 1.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Gastric cancer is among the most prevalent malignancies worldwide. Despite significant advancements in chemoradiotherapy, targeted therapy, and neoadjuvant therapy, conventional surgical intervention remains the cornerstone of gastric cancer management. Improvements in surgical techniques, coupled with the use of staplers and other advanced instruments, have substantially reduced the incidence of complications and mortality following gastric cancer surgery. However, dysphagia remains a common postoperative complication.
AIM
To retrospectively investigate the potential factors contributing to dysphagia in patients who have undergone laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer and to explore effective strategies for its postoperative management.
METHODS
In this retrospective study, we analyzed data from patients who underwent elective laparoscopic total gastrectomy at Lihuili Hospital, Ningbo University, between January 2018 and May 2022. A total of 115 eligible postoperative patients were included. Postoperatively, patients completed questionnaires and were categorized into two groups based on their responses: The dysphagia group (Eating Assessment Tool-10 score ≥ 3) and the non-dysphagia group (Eating Assessment Tool-10 score < 3). Risk factors associated with dysphagia following total gastrectomy were assessed using χ2 tests, Fisher’s exact tests, t-tests, Pearson correlation coefficients, and univariate and multivariate regression analyses.
RESULTS
Multivariate analysis further identified anastomotic style, prolonged intubation time, advanced age, and low albumin (ALB) levels as independent risk factors for postoperative dysphagia. Implementing targeted preventive measures for high-risk groups may significantly enhance postoperative quality of life.
CONCLUSION
Univariate analysis revealed that anastomotic style, low serum ALB levels, advanced age, and prolonged intubation time were significantly associated with postoperative dysphagia in gastric cancer patients. Multivariate analysis further identified anastomotic style, prolonged intubation time, advanced age, and low ALB levels as independent risk factors for postoperative dysphagia. Implementing targeted preventive measures for high-risk groups may significantly enhance postoperative quality of life.
Core Tip: Dysphagia is a common complication after total gastrectomy, yet research on it is limited. This retrospective study analyzed factors influencing dysphagia in patients undergoing laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer and explored management strategies. Data from 115 patients treated at Li Huili Hospital between January 2018 and May 2022 were reviewed. Post-surgery, patients completed questionnaires and were divided into dysphagia (Eating Assessment Tool-10 score ≥ 3) and non-dysphagia (Eating Assessment Tool-10 score < 3) groups. Risk factors were assessed using χ2 test, Fisher’s exact test, t-test, Pearson correlation, and regression analyses.
