Table 3.

Association of intra- and postoperative fluid management with postoperative morbidity

		Fluid balance POD 0 (ml)			Fluid balance POD 4 (ml)
Parameter	Total	<6000	>6000	pa	<5500	>5500	pa
	n = 333	n = 166	n = 166		n = 164	n = 165
In-hospital mortality	26 (8%)	5 (3%)	21 (13%)	<0.001	2 (1%)	22 (13%)	<0.001
Perioperative morbidity	248 (75%)	110 (66%)	137 (83%)	0.001	107 (65%)	137 (83%)	<0.001
Pulmonary morbidity	175 (53%)	79 (48%)	97 (58%)	0.031	74 (45%)	100 (60%)	0.003
Pneumonia	112 (34%)	42 (25%)	72 (43%)	<0.001	42 (26%)	71 (43%)	0.001
Pleural effusion	102 (31%)	44 (27%)	59 (36%)	0.048	41 (25%)	60 (36%)	0.017
Re-intubation	64 (19%)	27 (16%)	39 (24%)	0.065	20 (12%)	44 (27%)	0.001
Tracheostomy	38 (11%)	14 (8%)	25 (15%)	0.044	9 (6%)	30 (18%)	<0.001
Pulmonary embolism	9 (3%)	8 (5%)	1 (1%)	0.018	9 (6%)	0 (0%)	0.002
Surgical morbidity	156 (47%)	62 (37%)	93 (56%)	<0.001	60 (37%)	94 (57%)	<0.001
Wound infection	60 (18%)	23 (14%)	35 (21%)	0.056	20 (12%)	38 (23%)	0.007
Anastomotic leakage	49 (15%)	15 (9%)	34 (21%)	0.002	12 (7%)	37 (22%)	<0.001
Other	82 (25%)	33 (20%)	49 (30%)	0.028	30 (18%)	50 (30%)	0.008
Cardiac Complications	66 (20%)	26 (16%)	40 (24%)	0.037	23 (14%)	41 (25%)	0.009
Renal Complications	15 (5%)	5 (3%)	10 (6%)	0.145	2 (1%)	11 (7%)	0.010
Severity of complicationsb				<0.001			<0.001
Grade 0/I	85 (25%)	56 (34%)	29 (18%)		57 (35%)	28 (17%)
Grade II	76 (22%)	39 (24%)	37 (22%)		38 (23%)	38 (23%)
Grade IIIa/b	97 (29%)	42 (25%)	54 (32%)		48 (29%)	47 (29%)
Grade IVa/b	49 (15%)	24 (15%)	25 (15%)		19 (12%)	30 (18%)
Grade V	26 (8%)	5 (3%)	21 (13%)		2 (1%)	22 (13%)

^aFisher’s exact test ^bComplications were graded according to Clavien/Dindo

Patients were divided by their total fluid balance (median cut) on POD 0 and POD 4. The table compares the postoperative morbidity and mortality rate in the groups and the occurrence of specific complications