Experience of surgical morbidity after palliative surgery in patients with gastric carcinoma

Indications for palliative surgery in gastric carcinoma (GC) are controversial. Our aim was to describe the results of palliative surgery in GC in terms of operative morbidity and survival.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients with GC, who were divided into three groups: resection with microscopic residual disease (R1), palliative resection with macroscopic residual disease (R2), and gastrojejunostomy. Comparisons were tested with analysis of variance (ANOVA) or chi(2) test, and the Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis.

One hundred and thirty-two patients were included in the study: 21 had R1, 71 had R2, and 40 had gastrojejunostomy. Surgical morbidity was recorded in 4 patients (19%), 23 patients (32.4%), and 1 patient (2.5%) in each of the three groups, respectively (P = 0.001). Operative mortality occurred in 6 patients (8.5%) from the R2 group and in 1 (2.5%) patient from the gastrojejunostomy group (P = 0.406). Median survivals of the R1, R2, and gastrojejunostomy groups were 22.8 months (95% confidence interval [CI], 16.4-29.3), 12.4 (95% CI, 9.01-15.8) months, and 6.4 months (95% CI, 0-14.6), respectively (P = 0.078)

R1 resections and gastrojejunostomy were associated with low surgical morbidity and mortality, unlike R2 resection; in this group, surgical morbidity and mortality was high. Therefore, the benefit of palliative resection in the presence of extensive residual disease should be balanced against the risk of surgical morbidity.