Distribution and Impact of the Visceral Fat Area in Patients With Colorectal Cancer

PURPOSE: The purposes of this study were to investigate the distribution of the visceral fat area (VFA) and general obesity and to compare visceral and general obesity as predictors of surgical outcomes of a colorectal cancer resection. METHODS: The prospectively collected data of 102 patients with preoperatively-diagnosed sigmoid colon or rectal cancer who had undergone a curative resection at Pusan National University Yangsan Hospital between April 2011 and September 2012 were reviewed retrospectively. Men with a VFA of >130 cm(2) and women with a VFA of >90 cm(2) were classified as obese (VFA-O, n = 22), and the remaining patients were classified as nonobese (VFA-NO, n = 80). RESULTS: No differences in morbidity, mortality, postoperative bowel recovery, and readmission rate after surgery were observed between the 2 groups. However, a significantly higher number of harvested lymph nodes was observed in the VFA-NO group compared with the VFA-O group (19.0 ± 1.0 vs. 13.5 ± 1.2, respectively, P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Visceral obesity has no influence on intraoperative difficulties, postoperative complications, and postoperative recovery in patients with sigmoid colon or rectal cancer.