Daisuke Makiura

Prevention of postoperative pulmonary complications through intensive preoperative respiratory rehabilitation in patients with esophageal cancer

Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs) after esophagectomy have been reported to occur in 15.9-30% of patients and lead to increased postoperative morbidity and mortality, prolonged duration of hospital stay, and additional medical costs. The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to investigate the possible prevention of PPCs by intensive preoperative respiratory rehabilitation in esophageal cancer patients who underwent esophagectomy. The subjects included 100 patients (87 males and 13 females with mean age 66.5 ± 8.6 years) who underwent esophagectomy. They were divided into two groups: 63 patients (53 males and 10 females with mean age 67.4 ± 9.0 years) in the preoperative rehabilitation (PR) group and 37 patients (34 males and 3 females with mean age 65.0 ± 7.8 years) in the non-PR (NPR) group. The PR group received sufficient preoperative respiratory rehabilitation for >7 days, and the NPR group insufficiently received preoperative respiratory rehabilitation or none at all. The results of the logistic regression analysis and multivariate analysis to correct for all considerable confounding factors revealed the rates of PPCs of 6.4% and 24.3% in the PR group and NPR group, respectively. The PR group demonstrated a significantly less incidence rate of PPCs than the NPR group (odds ratio: 0.14, 95% confidential interval: 0.02~0.64). [Correction added after online publication 25 June 2012: confidence interval has been changed from -1.86~ -0.22] This study showed that the intensive preoperative respiratory rehabilitation reduced PPCs in esophageal cancer patients who underwent esophagectomy.

The effects of shoe fit on gait in community-dwelling older adults

Shoes have a beneficial function in physical performance, particularly for gait. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of shoe fit with gait parameters in community-dwelling older people. The fit of habitual shoes (HS) was evaluated in healthy older subjects and subjects were classified into well-fit (n=48) and poorly-fit (n=37) groups. The sizes of their feet were measured using an optical laser scanning system to provide newly-fitted shoes (NFS). Gait experiments were performed while wearing HS and NFS, separately. Trunk linear accelerations were measured along the vertical, anteroposterior and mediolateral axes using a tri-axial accelerometer attached to the L3 spinous process. Measurements were sampled at 200-Hz during a 20-m gait task at a self-selected speed. After signal processing, the gait velocity, stride duration, stride length and gait regularity (Reg) were obtained. Among the poorly-fit group, 86% wore shoes that were too loose. Subjects wearing ill-fitting shoes had a tendency to walk slower, had shorter stride lengths and lower Reg in the vertical direction than those wearing well-fitting shoes. Whereas NFS increased the gait velocity, the stride length and the Reg in the vertical direction, the increases in subjects that previously wore ill-fitting HS was significantly greater than in subjects that originally wore well-fitting HS. In conclusion, our study indicates that a significant proportion of older adults wear ill-fitting shoes and that well-fitting shoes are important to improve gait performance.

Preoperative sarcopenia is a predictor of postoperative pulmonary complications in esophageal cancer following esophagectomy: A retrospective cohort study

OBJECTIVES The number of geriatric patients with esophageal cancer has been increasing. Geriatric syndromes such as sarcopenia might adversely affect postoperative recovery. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationships between sarcopenia and postoperative complications, and the associations between sarcopenia and perioperative functional changes in patients with esophageal cancer following esophagectomy. MATERIALS AND METHODS Participants comprised 104 patients who underwent esophagectomy from July 2011 to April 2015. Preoperative sarcopenia was diagnosed by the presence of low muscle mass and low physical functions according to Asian Working Group for Sarcopenia criteria. Low physical function was defined by loss of grip strength and/or slow walking speed. Postoperative pulmonary, cardiac, infectious, and surgical complications were extracted. Perioperative functional changes were calculated (value at postoperative day 30-value before surgery). For statistical analyses, both uni- and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. RESULTS Twenty-nine patients (27.9%) were diagnosed with sarcopenia. The incidence of postoperative pulmonary complications was significantly higher in the sarcopenia group (37.9%) than in the non-sarcopenia group (17.3%; P=0.04). There was no relationship between sarcopenia and other complications or perioperative functional changes. Multivariate analysis identified sarcopenia (odds ratio (OR), 3.13; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.12-8.93) and high Brinkman index (OR, 3.46; 95% CI, 1.20-11.77) as independent risk factors for the development of pulmonary complications. CONCLUSION The assessment of sarcopenia may be useful to predict the postoperative pulmonary complications following esophagectomy. On the other hand, sarcopenia does not predict cardiac, infectious, and surgical complications or perioperative function.