RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Gastrectomy remains the only curative treatment for gastric cancer. However, surgical morbidity and mortality remains high. Our aim was to identify the risk factors that determine operative morbidity and mortality and to describe a simple method for preoperative stratification of morbidity outcome. METHODS: Retrospective review of patients who underwent gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Multivariate analysis was used to define risk factors for surgical morbidity and mortality. RESULTS: A total of 208 cases were included. Fifty-one episodes of operative morbidity and 19 surgery-related deaths were found. Operative blood loss (risk ratio [RR], 1.0012), serum albumin (RR, 0.42), extent of gastrectomy (RR, 2.8), lymphocyte count (RR, 0.999), and splenectomy (RR, 1.51) were the most important risk factors for morbidity. However, location of the tumor, serum albumin level, and lymphocyte count were the most important preoperative risk factors that determine the appearance of surgical complications. Receiver operating characteristic analysis of this model allowed definition of three risk groups in terms of surgical morbidity (11.8%, 28.5%, and 52.4%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: A new method for preoperative calculation of the probability of surgical complications was developed. It must be validated prospectively and in different settings to be used in preoperative interventions designed to reduce that risk.