Morbidity and mortality after pancreaticoduodenectomy in patients with borderline resectable type C clinical classification.

BACKGROUND

We previously described the clinical classification of patients with resectable pancreatic tumor anatomy but marginal performance status (PS) or reversible comorbidities as "borderline resectable type C" (BR-C). This study was designed to analyze the incidence and risk factors for post-pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD) morbidity/mortality in a multi-institutional cohort of BR-C patients.

METHODS

Elective PDs were evaluated from the 2005-10 ACS-NSQIP database. BR-C was defined as age ≥ 80, poor PS, weight loss > 10 %, pulmonary disease, recent myocardial infarction/angina, stroke history, and/or preoperative sepsis. Variables associated with 30-day postoperative major complications (PMC) and mortality were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 3,033/8,266 (36.7 %) patients were BR-C. BR-C patients were more likely to suffer PMC (31.3 vs. 26.2 %) and mortality (4.1 vs. 2.3 %). BR-C patients with PMC suffered 50 % higher mortality versus non-BR-C patients with PMC (11.5 vs. 7.7 %) (all p < 0.001). For BR-C patients, multivariate analysis identified the following risk factors for PMC or mortality: albumin < 3.5 g/dL, dyspnea, preoperative sepsis, age ≥ 80, poor PS, anesthesia score ≥ 4, and intraoperative transfusion ≥ 4 units.

CONCLUSIONS

Nationwide, one third of patients undergoing PD are medically borderline. These BR-C patients are at higher risk for and less able to be rescued from PMC. Surgeons should identify and optimize comorbidities and utilize prehabilitation to address functional deficits before elective PD.