The impact of major postoperative complications on long-term outcomes following curative resection of colon cancer

Abstract Purpose The objective is to analyze the impact of severe postoperative complications in patients undergoing curative surgery for colon cancer. Material and methods From a prospective database, we identified patients with stage I-III disease (AJCC) who underwent surgery between 2000 and 2014. Patients were selected with major complications (IIIb on the Clavien-Dindo classification) and with no major complications. Variables were analyzed in both groups. Local, peritoneal and distant recurrence together with overall survival and disease-free survival were analyzed. Results Of a total of 950 patients, 51 (5.3%) experienced major complications. Operative mortality was 2.6%. Age, ASA grade, urgent surgery, pre-operative hemoglobin, right-sided location, operative time, transfusion, conversion to open surgery, were all associated with major complications (all P  With a median follow-up of 84.8 and 40 months in both groups, there was greater incidence of local recurrences in patients experiencing complications (2.4% vs 7.8%; P = 0.03 OR 3.39, 95% CI 1.12–10.24), being more marked in stage III patients (4.2% vs 21%; P = 0.005, OR 6.13 95% CI 1.74–21.56). In the stage III group, peritoneal recurrence was significantly greater in patients with complications (13.6% vs 31.6%; P = 0.04 OR 2.92 95% CI 1.04–8.18). Patients with major complications had a significantly lower overall survival (P = 0.024) than patients with no complications both at 5 years (78.9% vs 68.8%) and 10 years (74.6% vs 32.1%). The same trend was observed for disease-free survival (71.6% vs 48.3% and 69.8% vs 32.2%; P = 0.013). Conclusion The development of major complications following colectomy for colon cancer has a negative impact on long-term oncologic outcomes, especially in stage III disease.