The Postoperative Recovery Course of Skeletal Muscle Mass in Older Esophageal Cancer Patients

Table 1

Characteristics of nonolder (<70 years) and older (≥70 years) patients.

Variables	Nonolder	Older	value
	(n = 156)	(n = 105)
Age
Mean ± SD (years)	61.5 ± 6.8	75.5 ± 4.1	<0.001^a
Sex
Male	125 (80)	84 (80)	1.000^b
Charlson comorbidity index
≥2	12 (8)	22 (21)	0.003^b
Histological type
Squamous cell carcinoma	138 (88)	94 (90)	0.947^b
Main tumor location			0.055^b
Cervical	4 (3)	4 (4)
Thoracic	126 (81)	93 (88)
Abdominal	28 (16)	8 (8)
Clinical stage
III-IV	70 (45)	53 (50)	0.445^b
Clinical T stage
T3-4	77 (49)	55 (52)	0.724^b
Clinical N stage
Positive	90 (58)	63 (60)	0.808^b
Pathological stage
III-IV	32 (21)	27 (26)	0.404^b
Pathological T stage
T3-T4	35 (22)	35 (33)	0.071^b
Pathological N stage
Positive	52 (33)	38 (36)	0.731^b
Adjuvant therapy
Neoadjuvant chemotherapy	98 (63)	52 (50)	0.045^b
Preoperative CRP
≥0.5 mg/dL	16 (10)	21 (20)	0.042^b
Preoperative NLR
≥3.5	22 (14)	25 (24)	0.066^b
Preoperative PNI
<40	40 (26)	25 (24)	0.850^b
Preoperative grip force
<26 kg (male), <18 kg (female)	NA	18 (17)	NA
Preoperative gait speed
<1.0 m/s	NA	25 (24)	NA
Postoperative complication
≥CD grade 2	63 (40)	49 (47)	0.380^b
Postoperative pneumonia
Presence	12 (8)	18 (17)	0.032^b
Postoperative anastomosis leakage
Presence	27 (17)	13 (12)	0.364^b
Postoperative recurrent nerve palsy
Presence	36 (23)	31 (30)	0.305^b
Length of hospital stay
Median (Q1–Q3) (days)	16 (14–22)	18 (15–25)	0.004^c
Postoperative change in grip force
Mean ± SD (%)	NA	−6.9 ± 9.8	NA
Postoperative change in gait speed
Mean ± SD (%)	NA	−4.5 ± 20.8	NA
Preoperative SMI
Mean ± SD (cm^2/m^2)	44.0 ± 7.2	42.3 ± 6.7	0.001^a
SMI 4 months after surgery
Mean ± SD (cm^2/m^2)	42.5 ± 6.8	40.5 ± 6.2	<0.001^a
SMI 12 months after surgery
Mean ± SD (%)	44.4 ± 6.6	41.1 ± 6.5	<0.001^a
Postoperative loss of SMI 4 months after surgery
Mean ± SD (%)	3.1 ± 7.8	5.7 ± 10.0	0.021^a
Postoperative loss of SMI 12 months after surgery
Mean ± SD (%)	−1.4 ± 8.1	1.0 ± 10.5	0.040^a

CD, Clavien–Dindo classification; CRP, C-reactive protein; NLR, neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio; PNI, prognostic nutritional index; SMI, skeletal muscle mass index. ^aOne-way analysis of variance. ^bχ² test. ^cMann–Whitney U test. ; .