Intraoperative blood loss does not independently affect the survival outcome of gastric cancer patients who underwent curative resection.

BACKGROUND: Whether intraoperative blood loss (IBL) was independently associated with poor prognosis of gastric cancer (GC) patients remains controversial. In the present study, we evaluated the impact of IBL on the disease-free survival (DFS) of GC patients.

METHODS: A total of 1669 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy for GC were reviewed retrospectively. All patients were classified as IBL < 400 mL and IBL ≥ 400 mL group according to the amount of IBL. The prognostic difference between two patient groups was compared and clinicopathologic factors associated with the prognosis of GC patients were analyzed.

RESULTS: The 5-year DFS rate of the patients with IBL < 400 mL and those with IBL ≥ 400 mL was 52.1% and 41.5%, respectively (P < 0.001). The 5-year DFS rate of the patients who did and did not receive intraoperative blood transfusion was 36.9% and 53.2%, respectively (P < 0.001). However, the similar survival outcomes were not observed in the subgroup analysis based on the TNM stage. The multivariate analysis indicated that IBL (HR 1.021, 95% CI 0.875-1.191, P > 0.05) and intraoperative blood transfusion (HR 1.111, 95% CI 0.943-1.309, P > 0.05) were not independent prognostic factors for GC patients. In addition, the patients with IBL ≥ 400 mL had a higher risk of postoperative complications than those with IBL < 400 mL, especially for intraabdominal infection and wound infection. The tumor located in upper 1/3 stomach, total gastrectomy, combined organ resection and advanced tumor stage (stage III) were independent risk factors for intraoperative massive hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION: Intraoperative blood loss was significantly associated with tumor-related and surgery-related factors. Intraoperative blood loss itself could not independently affect survival outcome of GC patients after curative gastrectomy.