Effect of two surgical approaches on the lung function and prognosis of patients with combined esophagogastric cancer

BACKGROUND: Adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction has a center of origin within 5 cm of the esophagogastric junction. Surgical resection remains the main treatment. A transthoracic approach is recommended for Siewert I adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction and a transabdominal approach is recommended for Siewert III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction. However, there is a need to determine the optimal surgical approach for Siewert II adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction to improve lung function and the prognosis of patients. AIM: To investigate and compare the surgical effects, postoperative changes in pulmonary function, and prognoses of two approaches to treating combined esophagogastric cancer. METHODS: One hundred and thirty-eight patients with combined esophagogastric cancer treated by general and thoracic surgeries in our hospital were selected. They were divided into group A comprising 70 patients (transabdominal approach) and group B comprising 68 patients (transthoracic approach) based on the surgical approach. The indexes related to surgical trauma, number of removed lymph nodes, indexes of lung function before and after surgery, survival rate, and survival duration of the two groups were compared 3 years after surgery. RESULTS: The duration of surgery, length of hospital stay, and postoperative drainage duration of the patients in group A were shorter than those of the patients in group B, and the volume of blood loss caused by surgery was lower for group A than for group B (P < 0.05). At the one-month postoperative review, the first second, maximum ventilation volume, forceful lung volume, and lung volume values were higher for group A than for group B (P < 0.05). Preoperatively, the QLQ-OES18 scale scores of the patients in group A were higher than those in group B on re-evaluation at 3 mo postoperatively (P < 0.05). The surgical complication rate of the patients in group A was 10.00%, which was lower than that of patients in group B, which was 23.53% (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Transabdominal and transthoracic surgical approaches are comparable in treating combined esophagogastric cancer; however, the former results in lesser surgical trauma, milder changes in pulmonary function, and fewer complications.