Risk factors for postoperative recovery in oral cancer surgery: A retrospective cohort study

Effective management of oral cancer necessitates a multidisciplinary approach, with surgery playing a pivotal role in treatment. However, there are many risk factors during the perioperative period that affect postoperative recovery.

This study aims to identify the risk factors influencing postoperative recovery in patients undergoing oral cancer surgery, thereby optimizing perioperative management.

A retrospective cohort study was carried out in patients who underwent surgery for oral cancer at The Second Affiliated Hospital Of Zhejiang University School Of Medicine from Jan. to Dec. in 2023. Based on the median length of stay (LOS) of 20.42 days, we divided the study population into DL3W and DM3W groups (DL3W/DM3W: Discharged less/>3 weeks).

The Predictor variables included sex, age, BMI, smoke, drink, education, settlement, surgery history, tumor history, intra-operative situation, flap details, pathologic stage, treatment and laboratory examination.

The primary outcome was length of stay (LOS) defined as the days from the start of preoperative preparation to discharge from the hospital.

Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using the χ2 test, Fisher's exact test and t-test. A P value of 0.05 was deemed as an acceptable statistical significance level.

The sample was composed of 103 subjects with a mean age of 59.45 (14.20) and 71 (68.9 %) were male. The median LOS was 20.42 ((range, 10-69) days. The baseline characteristics between the DL3W and DM3W groups were generally balanced. Factors associated with LOS were BMI (95 %CI 1.01-1.15, P = 0.046), intraoperative blood loss (95 %CI 0.;99-1.00, P = 0.002), flap source (P < 0.001), and postoperative fasting time (95 %CI 0.88-0.95, P < 0.001). In the regression model, more intraoperative blood loss and longer postoperative fasting time were associated with increased. LOS and factors BMI and the use of forearm flap were associated with decreased LOS after adjusting the confounding factors.

In the perioperative period for oral cancer patients, optimizing postoperative recovery may be achieved by carefully managing BMI, intraoperative blood loss, flap source, and postoperative fasting time.