Observational Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Nov 26, 2023; 11(33): 8013-8021
Published online Nov 26, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i33.8013
Subcutaneous fat thickness and abdominal depth are risk factors for surgical site infection after gastric cancer surgery
Kuan-Yong Yu, Rong-Kang Kuang, Ping-Ping Wu, Guang-Hui Qiang
Kuan-Yong Yu, Rong-Kang Kuang, Guang-Hui Qiang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Nanjing Jiangbei Hospital, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu Province, China
Ping-Ping Wu, Department of Endocrinology, Nanjing Jiangbei Hospital, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Qiang GH and Yu KY designed the study; Kuang RK drafted the work; Wu PP and Yu KY collected the data; Yu KY and Kuang RK analyzed and interpreted the data; Yu KY and Wu PP wrote the manuscript; Qiang GH and Kuang RK revised the manuscript; all authors read and confirmed the final revision of the manuscript.
Supported by The Nanjing Health Science and Technology Development Fund Project, No. YKK18241.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of the Nanjing Jiangbei Hospital.
Informed consent statement: The need for informed consent was waived because of the retrospective nature of the study.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There are no conflicts of interest to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement—checklist of items.
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: Guang-Hui Qiang, MD, Doctor, Surgeon, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Nanjing Jiangbei Hospital, No. 552 Geguan Road, Jiangbei New District, Nanjing 210044, Jiangsu Province, China. guanghqiang@126.com
Received: August 14, 2023
Peer-review started: August 14, 2023
First decision: October 9, 2023
Revised: October 19, 2023
Accepted: November 2, 2023
Article in press: November 2, 2023
Published online: November 26, 2023
Processing time: 101 Days and 20 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common complications after gastric cancer (GC) surgery. The occurrence of SSI can lead to a prolonged postoperative hospital stay and increased medical expenses, and it can also affect postoperative rehabilitation and the quality of life of patients. Subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) and abdominal depth (AD) can be used as predictors of SSI in patients undergoing radical resection of GC.

AIM

To explore the potential relationship between SFT or AD and SSI in patients undergoing elective radical resection of GC.

METHODS

Demographic, clinical, and pre- and intraoperative information of 355 patients who had undergone elective radical resection of GC were retrospectively collected from hospital electronic medical records. Univariate analysis was performed to screen out the significant parameters, which were subsequently analyzed using binary logistic regression and receiver-operating characteristic curve analysis.

RESULTS

The prevalence of SSI was 11.27% (40/355). Multivariate analyses revealed that SFT [odds ratio (OR) = 1.150; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.090–1.214; P < 0.001], AD (OR = 1.024; 95%CI: 1.009–1.040; P = 0.002), laparoscopic-assisted surgery (OR = 0.286; 95%CI: 0.030–0.797; P = 0.017), and operation time (OR = 1.008; 95%CI: 1.001–1.015; P = 0.030) were independently associated with the incidence of SSI after elective radical resection of GC. In addition, the product of SFT and AD was a better potential predictor of SSI in these patients than either SFT or AD alone.

CONCLUSION

SFT and AD are independent risk factors and can be used as predictors of SSI in patients undergoing radical resection of GC.

Keywords: Subcutaneous fat thickness, Abdomen depth, Surgical site infection, Gastric cancer, Radical resection, Risk factors

Core Tip: Surgical site infection (SSI) is one of the most common complications after gastric cancer (GC) surgery. We identified subcutaneous fat thickness (SFT) and abdominal depth (AD) as independent risk factors that can be used as predictors of SSI in patients undergoing radical resection of GC. Our findings may assist clinicians in evaluating the risk of SSI in patients with higher SFT and AD values.