Post-discharge complications after esophagectomy account for high readmission rates

Table 1 Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing esophagectomy n (%)

Characteristic	Group 1	Group 2	Group 3	P value
	No complication	Pre-discharge complication	Post-discharge complication
	n = 2497 (55.70)	n = 1588 (35.42)	n = 398 (8.88)
Age, mean (median)	62.5 ± 11.2 (63)	63.9 ± 10.8 (65)	63.4 ± 10.9 (64)	0.001
Age group (yr)				0.048
< 60	921 (36.88)	513 (32.30)	143 (35.93)
60-69	862 (34.52)	579 (36.46)	126 (31.66)
70-79	602 (24.11)	407 (25.63)	109 (27.39)
≥ 80	112 (4.49)	89 (5.60)	20 (5.03)
Male1	2042 (81.88)	1220 (76.83)	325 (81.66)	< 0.001
Race				0.088
White	2135 (85.50)	1363 (85.83)	352 (88.44)
Black	76 (3.04)	62 (3.90)	6 (1.51)
Other/unknown	286 (11.45)	168 (10.26)	40 (10.05)
ASA classification1				< 0.001
No disturb/mild disturb	611 (24.50)	237 (14.92)	88 (22.17)
Serious disturb	1746 (70.01)	1161 (73.11)	269 (67.76)
Life threat/moribund	137 (5.49)	190 (11.96)	40 (10.08)
Body mass index, mean (median)	27.9 ± 6.4 (27)	27.7 ± 6.3 (26.9)	28.4 ± 6.2 (27.6)	0.132
Body mass index group1 (kg/m2)				0.013
< 18.5	68 (2.75)	59 (3.75)	9 (2.26)
18.5-24.9	761 (30.72)	522 (33.14)	100 (25.13)
25-29.9	905 (36.54)	532 (33.78)	159 (39.95)
≥ 30	743 (30.00)	462 (29.33)	130 (32.66)
Diabetes	341 (13.66)	300 (18.89)	75 (18.84)	< 0.001
Current smoker	616 (24.67)	434 (27.33)	86 (21.61)	0.033
Dyspnea	209 (8.37)	205 (12.91)	48 (12.06)	< 0.001
History of COPD	131 (5.25)	156 (9.82)	23 (5.78)	< 0.001
Weight loss	468 (18.74)	301 (18.95)	73 (18.34)	0.959
Steroid use	74 (2.96)	42 (2.64)	12 (3.02)	0.820
Emergency case	18 (0.72)	39 (2.46)	3 (0.75)	< 0.001
Diagnosis				0.002
Benign disease	355 (14.22)	289 (18.20)	56 (14.07)
Esophageal/gastric cancer	2142 (85.78)	1299 (81.80)	342 (85.93)
Year of operation				0.012
2005-2007	293 (11.73)	223 (14.04)	41 (10.30)
2008-2010	746 (29.88)	409 (25.76)	109 (27.39)
2011-2013	1458 (58.39)	956 (60.20)	248 (62.31)

¹Different denominator due to missing data: gender (Total n = 4480; Group 1 n = 2494; Group 2 n = 1588; Group 3 n = 398); functional status (n = 4481; 2497; 1586; 398); ASA class (n = 4479; 2494; 1588; 397); BMI (n = 4450; 2477; 1575; 398). ASA: American Society of Anesthesiology; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; BMI: Body mass index.