Impact of sarcopenic obesity on surgical complications and oncologic outcomes of upper gastrointestinal tumors: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Sarcopenic obesity (SO) is a new entity whose definition encompasses the diagnosis of overweight in malnourished patients. The aim of the review was to assess the impact of body composition in patients with esophago-gastric tumors (EGT) on perioperative and oncological outcomes. This systematic review was conducted under the PRISMA guidelines. MEDLINE (PubMed), Embase, Web of Science and SCOPUS databases were searched until January 2024. Sixteen articles were identified for analysis analyzing 5,378 patients. The prevalence of SO was 10% (95%CI: 6-16; I2 = 94%). Preoperative diagnosis of SO was associated with a twofold increased risk of severe postoperative complications (OR 2.32 [95%CI 1.41-3.82] I2 = 70%). Meta-analysis of overall survival outcomes identified that SO was associated with worse overall survival (HR 2.30; 95%CI 1.46-3.61).