title: Impacts of anastomotic complications on the health-related quality of life after esophagectomy.
abstract: Health-related quality of life (HRQL) is of great importance in cancer management. The aim was to identify factors that influence postoperative HRQL in esophageal carcinoma patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective cohort study was conducted to enroll 196 patients with esophageal carcinoma from November 2012 to June 2013. Sociademographic and clinicopathological parameters were recorded in detail. EORTC-QLQ C30 and ES18 were used to assess HRQL before surgery, at discharge, 1 and 6 months after discharge. Logistic regression models were used to identify factors independently influencing quality of life at 6 months after discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  HRQL dramatically decreased after esophagectomy, but restored within 6 months in the most scales. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that gender (P = 0.002) and anastomotic stricture (P = 0.001) were the independent predictors of poor global quality-of-life 6 months after discharge. Anastomotic stricture occurred in 22 patients (11.2%), and their performance in social function (P = 0.04), problems with eating (P = 0.006), choking when swallowing (P < 0.001) were significantly poorer at 6 months after discharge. There were not significant differences in global quality-of-life between patients with and without anastomotic leakage at three postoperative assessments.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Postoperative HRQL is restored within 6 months after discharge. Occurrence of anastomotic stricture significantly decreases HRQL after esophagectomy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Oncology, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Collaborative innovation Center for Cancer Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China; Guangdong Esophageal Cancer Institute, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qingyuan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Jiudi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Tianzhen
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jinhui
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Kongjia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Yuzhen
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fu
mesh_terms: D000714:Anastomosis, Surgical / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000601:surgery; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D004940:Esophageal Stenosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D016629:Esophagectomy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D012737:Sex Factors
keywords: esophageal cancer; esophagectomy; quality of life; stricture