Background:

South America is a geographical area of intermediate incidence of esophageal cancer, with a progressive increased incidence and uncommon early diagnosis. Even though the surgical resection is the keystone treatment, survival rates are still poor, with a high rate of complications.

The aim of this study was to describe the rate of complications after esophagectomy in the treatment of resectable esophageal cancer at a cancer center in Bogotá, Colombia.

Methods:

A retrospective review of a prospective database was done. Thirty patients underwent esophagectomy for esophageal cancer at a single tertiary level of cancer care center in the four-year period 2012-2016. Twenty-two open operations and 8 laparoscopic procedures were registered. We compared the postoperative complications and anastomotic leak rates in: a) side to side vs. end to side anastomosis; b) cervical vs. intra-thoracic anastomosis; c) stapler vs. hand made anastomosis; and d) circular vs. linear stapler.

Results:

Postoperative complications were present in 56.7% of patients. Anastomotic leak was present in 30% of patients. Mortality rate was 6.7 %. Anastomotic leaks were more frequent in older patients and female gender (p = 0.0116 and 0.0301 respectively). No statistical differences were present between: a) side to side vs. end to side anastomosis; b) cervical vs. intra-thoracic anastomosis; c) stapler vs. hand made anastomosis; and d) circular vs. linear stapler.

Conclusions:

The results of this study of patients in whom esophagectomy was performed at a South-American cancer care center showed that even though South America is an area of intermediate incidence of esophageal cancer, it is still an infrequent disease and our findings showed that anastomotic leaks may be more common in older and female gender patients.

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