Salvage surgery, chylothorax and pneumonia are the main drivers of unplanned readmissions after oesophagectomy for cancer

Objectives: Unplanned readmissions after surgery can be cumbersome to patients and costly on healthcare resources. The aim of this single-centre study was to identify the independent risk factors for unplanned readmissions in patients who had undergone oesophagectomy for cancer.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 526 consecutive patients with oesophageal cancer who received transthoracic oesophagectomy and were discharged home between 2006 and 2017. Risk factors for unplanned readmission within the first 30 days from discharge were identified by multivariable competing risk analysis.

Results: The mean age of the study patients was 55.14 years and 93.7% were men. Squamous cell carcinoma was identified in 94.1% of the participants, and 68.0% received chemoradiotherapy. There were 299 (56.8%) patients who experienced at least 1 postoperative complication. Fifty-five patients (10.5%) experienced an unplanned readmission. The postoperative 90-day mortality rate among patients who experienced an unplanned readmission was significantly higher than that of cases who did not (9.1% vs 0.2%, respectively, P < 0.001). Multivariable analysis identified chylothorax [hazard ratio (HR): 3.86, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.89-7.91, P < 0.001], pneumonia (HR: 1.98, 95% CI 1.03-3.82, P = 0.042) and salvage surgery (HR: 2.27, 95% CI: 1.10-4.69, P = 0.027) as independent risk factors for unplanned readmissions.

Conclusions: Salvage surgery, postoperative chylothorax and pneumonia are the main drivers of 30-day unplanned readmissions in patients who had undergone oesophagectomy for cancer. Patients who required unplanned readmissions showed increased early mortality rates.