Comparison of Postoperative Nutritional Status after Distal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer Using Three Reconstructive Methods: a Multicenter Study of over 1300 Patients

Abstract

Purpose Perioperative nutritional status has been reported to be associated with short- and long-term outcomes after surgery in gastric cancer patients. This study compared changes in nutritional status after distal gastrectomy using the Billroth I (BI), Billroth II (BII), and Roux-en-Y (RY) reconstruction techniques in gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods Data from 1305 gastric cancer patients who underwent distal gastrectomy at two tertiary hospitals from January 2011 to December 2016 were reviewed. The patients were divided into three groups according to reconstruction type: BI, BII, and RY. We evaluated changes in nutritional parameters including body mass index (BMI), biochemical data, the prognostic nutritional index (PNI), nutritional risk index (NRI), and geriatric nutritional risk index (GNRI) preoperatively, and 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Results Total protein, albumin, PNI, and NRI were significantly lower in the BII group than in the BI and RY groups during follow-up (P < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, reconstruction types were independently related to decreases in BMI (> 10%), low serum protein, albumin, and cholesterol 12 months after surgery. Compared with BI, BII was associated with decreased BMI, low protein, and albumin and RY was associated with decreased BMI and low cholesterol. Conclusion During the first year after gastric cancer surgery, postoperative nutritional status differed according to the reconstruction type; BI resulted in the least weight and nutritional loss, RY yielded results comparable with BI in the nutritional indexes, and BII resulted in the greatest nutritional loss.