What are the risk factors for anastomotic leakage and leak-related mortality after colonic cancer surgery?
Elderly patients and those with comorbidities have a higher risk of death after anastomotic leakage following colonic cancer surgery.
The elderly and patients with co-morbidity have a higher risk of death after AL. Accurate preoperative patient selection, intensive postoperative surveillance for AL, and early and aggressive treatment of suspected leakage is important, especially in patients undergoing right colectomy.
Bakker et al. (Mon,) studied this question.