Prognostic Value of CT-guided Sarcopenia for Surgical Outcomes in Esophagetomy and Total Gastrectomy Due to Neoplasia

Background: Malnutrition is highly prevalent in patients with esophageal and / or stomach cancer, and is often followed by sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass and strength). Both syndromes influence negatively on prognosis of oncological patients, by increasing hospitalization time, number of complications and hospital expenses. Therefore, it is extremely important to identify patients at nutritional risk. This nutritional assessment can be done through clinical and laboratory tests, as well as can be inferred through computed tomography (CT) imaging.

Hypothesis: To evaluate the relationship between the rate of CT-guided sarcopenia and the surgery outcomes of patients undergoing esophagectomy and / or total gastrectomy due to neoplasia.

Methods: Prospective non-randomized study evaluating the nutritional status and morbidity and mortality of patients. The cases will be conducted according to a pre-established protocol and the sample, for convenience, will be 80 patients. Demographic data and information on diagnosis, treatment and post-surgical data will be collected, as well as anthropometric evaluation. In addition, biochemical data such as hemoglobin, transferrin and serum albumin values will be assessed to classify the patient's nutritional status. The CT images will be analyzed in order to evaluate the degree of sarcopenia and body fat rate, using the distal sections of the third lumbar vertebra. In order to evaluate skeletal muscle mass, the areas of interest will be ones between -30 and +110 hounsfield units (HU) and for the analysis of visceral fat area analysis, pixels with densities between -190 to -30 HU will be used. Both results will be converted to cm2 and analyzed through pre-set cutoff values.

Statistical analysis: Descriptive analyzes will be performed using Fisher's exact tests, for proportions; Wilkcoxon rank-sum test for analyzes of continuous and non-parametric variables. Univariate analyzes will be performed to compare the variables of interest of the study, with the other variables. All tests will have a 5% significance level.

Inclusion criteria

• elective esophagectomy and / or total gastrectomy due to neoplasia,
• received oral or enteral diet in less than 48 hours postoperatively. For those who started with an enteral catheter, will be included in the study those with oral feedback up to 7 days.

Exclusion criteria

• Need for colonic transposition instead of gastric tube for reconstruction;
• Presence of any adverse events related to the anesthetic act or not related to the surgical act.