Impact of intra-peritoneal fat distribution on intra-operative bleeding volume with D2 lymphadenectomy in Chinese patients with gastric cancer

Abstract

Objective: To explore the quantitative measurements and evaluation of intra-peritoneal fat distribution by MDCT and its significance in predicting intra-operative bleeding volume during D2 lymphadenectomy in gastric cancer (GC) patients.

Methods: From June 2016 to September 2017, GC patients scheduled for open gastrectomy with D2 lymph-node dissection were enrolled. According to the BMI, the subjects were then classified as normal BMI(BMI<25 kg/m²); overweight (BMI = 25-30 kg/m²) and obese (BMI≥30 kg/m²). According to the intraoperative blood loss (IBL), the patients were further separated into high IBL (IBL; ≥ 300 ml) or low IBL (<300 ml). Clinicopathological parameters between the groups were statistically compared and univariate and multivariate analysis were used to identify predictive factors such as intra-peritoneal fat areas (IFA) and intra-peritoneal fat areas ratio (IFAR) for high IBL.

Results: A total of 226 patients were included in the study where 53 patients underwent distal while 173 underwent total gastrectomy. According to the BMI classification, there were 25 normal BMI, 108 overweight and 25 obese subjects. According to the IBL, there were 98 high IBL and 128 low IBL subjects. IFA and IFAR were significantly greater in the high IBL group than in the low IBL group. There was no significant difference in any other clinicopathological factors between the high IBL group and the low IBL group. Multivariate analysis revealed that high IFA and IFAR independently predicted high IBL.

Conclusion: The use of MDCT to evaluate the precise distribution of abdominal fat during preoperative examination can prompt surgeons to develop techniques to decrease intraoperative bleeding in obese patients. Nevertheless, it is yet necessary to be surgically more meticulous when dealing with patients with high IFA or high IFA/IFAR in order to improve the outcome of D2 gastrectomy.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; Intra-operative bleeding volume; Intra-peritoneal fat areas; MDCT; Obesity.