Adverse effects of intraoperative blood loss on long-term outcomes after curative gastrectomy of patients with Stage II/III gastric cancer

Background/Aims: Gastrectomy with systemic lymphadenectomy sometimes causes excessive bleeding even by experienced surgeons. The aim of this study was to evaluate how intraoperative estimated blood loss (EBL) affected the long-term outcomes after curative surgery of patients with stage II/III gastric cancer (GC). Methods: This study included 203 patients with stage II/III GC who did not receive perioperative blood transfusion between 1999 and 2015. The optimal cutoff and the prognostic significance of EBL were determined retrospectively. Results: The median EBL was 285 ml. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified 400 ml as an optimal cutoff. Patients with EBL ≥400 ml were more likely to have hepatic relapse and worse prognosis compared to those with EBL <400 ml. EBL ≥400 ml was identified as an independent prognostic factor for mortality by multivariable analysis. When patients were subdivided according to administration of adjuvant chemotherapy, there was a significant difference between the EBL ≥400 and <400 ml groups in patients who underwent surgery alone, whereas the prognosis was similar for patients of both groups who received adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusion: EBL serves as a useful predictor for risk stratification after curative gastrectomy in patients with stage II/III GC.