Complications after esophageal cancer surgery

The occurrence of esophageal cancer has a serious impact on people's normal life and work. If the treatment is not timely, the disease will relapse or worsen, which will threaten the patient's life safety. For patients who choose surgical treatment, postoperative complications are more common. So what are the postoperative complications of esophageal cancer?

1. Functional gastric emptying disorder: Some patients with esophageal cancer also need to remove the stomach wall or even part of the stomach during resection. The esophagus and stomach are connected, which can affect each other functionally. After esophageal cancer resection, gastric motility disorders often occur, causing chest and stomach emptying disorders and resulting in a large amount of gastric content retention.

2. Respiratory infection after esophageal cancer surgery: Although esophageal cancer surgery does not remove lung tissue, it destroys the integrity of the chest, damages the intercostal muscles, and especially the integrity of the diaphragm, which seriously damages the ventilation pump of the affected lung, making it easy to develop respiratory infections. When pain occurs in the neck, chest or upper abdominal incision, or the stomach has been pulled into the chest to compress the lungs, the patient may experience varying degrees of difficulty breathing after surgery, with shallow and rapid breathing.

3. Severe diarrhea after esophageal cancer surgery: Surgery for esophageal cancer may cause gastrointestinal dysfunction and severe diarrhea. Analysis shows that the cause may be related to vagus nerve severance, gastrin concentration, etc. Treatment measures: actively give antidiarrheal drugs and give fluid replacement to prevent dehydration of patients.

4. Reflux esophagitis: Reflux esophagitis is a common complication after esophageal cancer surgery. The main manifestation is that acidic liquid or food refluxes from the gastroesophageal esophagus to the pharynx or mouth when the body bends forward after each meal or sleeps in bed at night, accompanied by symptoms such as burning or pain behind the sternum and difficulty swallowing.

5. Anastomotic leakage: This is a serious complication after esophageal cancer surgery, with an incidence rate of about 5%. Its cause is related to factors such as the anastomotic method, whether there is tension at the anastomotic site, whether there is secondary infection at the anastomotic site, and the patient's nutritional status before surgery.