Table 2.
Operative outcomes and pathological findings
| N-AL group | AL group | P value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| (n = 464) | (n = 148) | ||
| Surgical approach, n (%) | 0.210 | ||
| Open | 138 (29.7) | 33 (22.3) | |
| Hybrid MIE | 35 (7.5) | 13 (8.8) | |
| MIE | 291 (62.7) | 102 (68.9) | |
| Type of esophagectomy, n (%) | 0.234 | ||
| McKeown | 128 (27.6) | 51 (34.5) | |
| Ivor Lewis | 292 (62.9) | 82 (55.4) | |
| Transhiatal | 44 (9.5) | 15 (10.1) | |
| Conversion to open technique, n (%) | 14 (3.0) | 3 (2.0) | 0.523 |
| Operative duration, min [IQR] | 420 [360–495] | 431 [385–512] | 0.121 |
| Intraoperative blood loss, ml [IQR] | 200 [100–500] | 195 [75–400] | 0.105 |
| CRP on POD 2*, mg/L [IQR] | 153 [110–204] | 178 [130–239] | < 0.001 |
| CRP on POD 3*, mg/L [IQR] | 160 [113–219] | 209 [147–276] | < 0.001 |
| CRP on POD 4*, mg/L [IQR] | 142 [94–194] | 197 [132–255] | < 0.001 |
| Trend in CRP between POD 2 and 3, % [IQR] | 3.1 [− 13.5 to 21.9] | 10.7 [− 2.9 to 31.5] | < 0.001 |
| Trend in CRP between POD 3 and 4, % [IQR] | − 13.1 [− 26.3 to 3.4] | − 8.8 [− 21.0 to 6.3] | 0.026 |
| Medical complications† (C-D ≥ 2), n (%) | 131 (28.2) | 41 (27.7) | 0.901 |
| Date of leakage diagnosis, postoperative day | - | 8 [6–10] | - |
| Postoperative hospital stay, days | 13 [10–21.8] | 29 [18–48] | < 0.001 |
| 30-day mortality, n (%) | 9 (1.9) | 8 (5.4) | 0.026 |
| 90-day mortality, n (%) | 24 (5.2) | 16 (10.8) | 0.016 |
| Histological tumor type | 0.609 | ||
| Adenocarcinoma | 369 (79.5) | 112 (75.6) | |
| Squamous cell carcinoma | 90 (19.4) | 34 (23.0) | |
| Others | 5 (1.1) | 2 (1.4) | |
| Pathological T category, n (%) | 0.238 | ||
| T0 | 74 (16.1) | 26 (17.8) | |
| T1 | 63 (13.7) | 27 (18.5) | |
| T2 | 66 (14.4) | 27 (18.5) | |
| T3 | 217 (47.3) | 57 (39.0) | |
| T4 | 39 (8.5) | 9 (6.2) | |
| Pathological N category, n (%) | 0.309 | ||
| N0 | 220 (47.9) | 82 (56.2) | |
| N1 | 89 (19.4) | 27 (18.5) | |
| N2 | 68 (14.8) | 18 (12.3) | |
| N3 | 82 (17.9) | 19 (13.0) | |
| Pathological stage, n (%) | 0.152 | ||
| Stage 0 | 62 (13.5) | 21 (14.4) | |
| Stage I | 45 (9.8) | 24 (16.4) | |
| Stage II | 126 (27.5) | 42 (28.8) | |
| Stage III | 130 (28.3) | 37 (25.3) | |
| Stage IV | 96 (20.9) | 22 (15.1) |
N-AL non-anastomotic leakage, AL anastomotic leakage, MIE minimally invasive esophagectomy, IQR interquartile range, CRP C-reactive protein, POD postoperative day, C-D Clavien–Dindo classification
*In CRP levels on POD 2, 3, and 4, there were 2, 6, and 15 patients, respectively, with missing data
†Medical complications were defined as pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, and cardiovascular complications
Bold numbers indicate statistical significance