Impact of obesity on the outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A meta-analysis.

Summary The impact of body mass index (BMI) on surgical outcomes has previously been studied in relation to several oncological procedures. Regarding gastric cancer surgery, published results have been contradicting in terms of degree of technical difficulty, risk of postoperative complications and survival. In an attempt to clarify these issues, we performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the impact of obesity (defined as BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2) on outcomes after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The meta-analysis was performed according to the PRISMA guidelines. Eligible studies were identified through search of PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane Library databases. Quality assessment was performed using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. The meta-analysis was conducted using random-effects modeling. A total of 11 studies with 13 538 patients were eligible for analysis. Obesity was associated with a significantly longer operation time (WMD = 19.38 min, 95% CI 12.72–26.04; p