title: Postoperative complications affect early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative resection.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Postoperative recurrence remains the major cause of death after curative resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study was conducted to evaluate the impact of postoperative complications on HCC recurrence after curative resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  The postoperative outcomes of 274 HCC patients who underwent curative resection were analysed retrospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 247 HCC patients, 103 (37.6 %) patients developed postoperative complications. The occurrence of postoperative complications was found to be associated with a significantly higher tumor recurrence (76.2 % vs. 56.6 %, P = 0.002) and a lower 5-year overall survival rate (27.7 % vs. 42.1 %; P = 0.037) as compared with those without complications. Regarding the recurrence pattern, early recurrence (≤2 years) was more frequently seen in patients with complications than that in patients without complications (54.5 % vs.38.6 %; P = 0.011). Multivariate analysis indicated that postoperative complications occurrence was an independent risk factor for early recurrence (odds ratio [OR] 2.223; 95 % confidence intervals [95 % CI] 1.161-4.258, P = 0.016) and poor overall survival (OR 1.413; 95 % CI, 1.012-1.971, P = 0.042).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results of the present study indicate that the occurrence of postoperative complications is a predictive factor for HCC recurrence after curative hepatectomy, especially for early recurrence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatovascular Surgery, First affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. zhouymsxy@sina.cn.|Department of Special Treatment, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. zhouymsxy@sina.cn.
authors.forename: Yan-Ming
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Treatment, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. zxf_ehbh@126.com.
authors.forename: Xiao-Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatovascular Surgery, First affiliated Hospital of Xiamen University, Xiamen, China. Binl1962@sina.cn.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Treatment, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. suichengjun1978@163.com.
authors.forename: Cheng-Jun
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Sui
authors.affiliation: Department of Special Treatment, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China. yjm1952@sina.cn.
authors.forename: Jia-Mei
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006498:Hepatectomy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult