Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 May;43(5):1370-1376.
doi: 10.1007/s00268-019-04925-z.

Impact of Body Composition on Surgical Outcome in Rectal Cancer Patients, a Retrospective Cohort Study

Affiliations

Impact of Body Composition on Surgical Outcome in Rectal Cancer Patients, a Retrospective Cohort Study

C Heus et al. World J Surg. 2019 May.

Abstract

Background: Obesity is becoming a bigger health problem every year. Current research shows that the obesity-related metabolic problems are strongly associated with visceral fat and not subcutaneous fat. Visceral obesity (VO) is associated with a worse postoperative outcome in multiple fields of abdominal surgery. On the other hand, muscle mass is related to better postoperative outcome. In rectal cancer patients, we studied the influence of visceral obesity and muscle mass on postoperative complications.

Methods: The visceral fat area (VFA) and skeletal muscle area (SMA) were determined on preoperative CT scans in 406 patients. The preoperative comorbidity, per-operative outcome and postoperative complications were extracted retrospectively from the patient files. VO was defined as a VFA > 100 cm2. Correlations between body composition, postoperative complications and LOS were studied.

Results: In our study, 67% of the patients were classified as visceral obese. Mean body mass index (BMI) was higher in the VO group (26.6 ± 3.5 vs 23.5 ± 2.8; p < 0.001). Visceral obese patients had a higher prevalence of cardiac comorbidity (29% vs 13% p = 0.001), hypertension (36% vs 20% p = 0.002) and diabetes mellitus (16% vs 5% p = 0.002). In addition, VO patients had more operative blood loss (431 vs 310 mL; p = 0.008), longer operating time (166 vs 149 min p = 0.003) and more wound infections (14% vs 8% p = 0.048). Visceral obesity was associated with more complications (OR: 1.63 p = 0.043) and longer LOS (risk estimate: 1.18 p = 0.009).

Conclusion: VO patients more often had a history of cardiac disease, hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Visceral obesity correlated with a worse outcome after surgery for rectal cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Am J Surg. 2000 Apr;179(4):275-81 - PubMed
    1. Endocr Rev. 2000 Dec;21(6):697-738 - PubMed
    1. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jun;89(6):2548-56 - PubMed
    1. J Appl Physiol (1985). 2004 Dec;97(6):2333-8 - PubMed
    1. Br J Surg. 2005 Oct;92(10):1261-2 - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources