Using the comprehensive complication index to assess the impact of Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM)-defined malnutrition on postoperative complications after resection for biliary tract cancer.

PURPOSE: The Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition (GLIM) criteria, proposed in 2018, provide universal diagnostic standards for malnutrition, a known risk factor for postoperative complications in patients with various cancers. However, its impact on surgery for biliary tract cancer (BTC) remains unclear. This study evaluates the relationship between GLIM-defined malnutrition and postoperative complications after resection for BTC.

METHODS

The subjects of this retrospective study were patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy or major hepatectomy with extrahepatic bile duct resection for BTC between January, 2013 and December, 2021. The comprehensive complication index (CCI), an indicator of postoperative complications, was calculated based on the total number and severity of postoperative complications.

RESULTS

GLIM-defined malnutrition was diagnosed in143 (71.1%) of the total 201 patients. The median CCI was significantly higher in the GLIM-defined malnutrition group than in the non-malnutrition group (37.2 vs. 28.3; P < 0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that GLIM-defined malnutrition (odds ratio 2.87 [95% confidence interval 1.38-5.96], P = 0.005) and intraoperative blood loss > 1,000 mL (odds ratio 3.77 [95% confidence interval 1.06-13.47], P = 0.041) were independent predictors of high morbidity (CCI ≥ 37.1).

CONCLUSION

Preoperative GLIM-defined malnutrition was closely associated with increased postoperative complications in patients who underwent resection for BTC.