Anastomotic leakage due to complication of esophageal cancer

What are the symptoms of complications after esophageal cancer surgery? Surgery will definitely leave some complications. Esophageal cancer is no exception. Understanding postoperative complications can effectively prevent them. So, what are the complications after esophageal cancer surgery? Let's take a look at what the experts say.

Complications after esophageal cancer surgery:

To prevent anastomotic leakage, the following issues should be noted: avoid tension on the anastomosis during surgery; the mucosa of the esophagus and stomach should be normal, without defects or erosion; without edema or hematoma, and with good blood supply; the surgical operation should be gentle and delicate; the mucosa and muscle layer should be well aligned; the suture line should be of appropriate thickness, not too sparse or too dense, and of moderate tightness; and avoid operational errors.

At the same time, to prevent complications after esophageal cancer surgery, we must also avoid airway obstruction and lung complications. Esophageal cancer patients have poor overall condition, low immunity, are older, and have varying degrees of heart and lung function damage. Therefore, it is particularly important to keep the patient's airway open after surgery and avoid airway obstruction.

Anastomotic leakage after esophageal cancer surgery

Incomplete flushing of the esophagus can also cause complications. During the surgical anastomosis, the residue in the esophagus will inevitably flow into the chest cavity. Although the chest cavity is thoroughly flushed during the operation, chest infection still occurs after the operation, causing pain to the patient and prolonging the course of the disease. This should be a lesson. Therefore, postoperative flushing should be clean and thorough to ensure a clean anastomosis of the esophagus.

1. Anastomotic fistula This is a serious complication after esophageal cancer surgery, with a general incidence of about 5%. The incidence of anastomotic fistula is related to the surgical method and approach.

2. Postoperative bleeding is the main complication of esophageal cancer.

3. Arrhythmia sometimes occurs after esophageal cancer surgery.

① PaOz decreased significantly after thoracotomy, reaching the lowest level on the 1st to 2nd day after surgery and began to rise on the 3rd day; the incidence of postoperative arrhythmia was higher in patients with low vital capacity before surgery and those with preoperative cardiopulmonary disease, hypertension, and diabetes.

② Postoperative pleural effusion, pleural pneumothorax, pneumonia, atelectasis, sputum blockage, pulmonary edema, thoracic and gastric dilatation, ARDS, etc. can cause an imbalance in the pulmonary ventilation/blood flow ratio and aggravate postoperative hypoxemia.

③ Patients who received preoperative radiotherapy had a higher incidence of postoperative arrhythmias, which lasted longer and were more severe than other types of arrhythmias and were more likely to develop pulmonary complications.