Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients and operations.

From: The effect of preventive use of corticosteroids on postoperative complications after esophagectomy: A retrospective cohort study

Variables

Control (n = 860)

Steroid (n = 120)

P value

Preoperative data

Age (years)

63 [57–70]

65 [60–70]

0.06

Male

786 (91)

109 (91)

0.84

Body mass index (kg/m2)

23 [20–25]

23 [21–25]

0.25

Hemoglobin (g/dl)

14 [12–15]

14 [13–15]

0.64

Albumin (g/dl)

4 [4–5]

4 [4–5]

0.52

ASA physical status ≥3

47 (6)

5 (4)

0.52

TNM Stage (n = 868)

   1

296 (39)

39 (37)

0.68

   2

226 (30)

28 (26)

   3

230 (30)

38 (36)

   4

10 (1)

1 (1)

Histologic grade (n = 800)

   Well differentiated

80 (11.5)

13 (12.6)

0.43

   Moderately differentiated

501 (71.9.)

78 (75.7)

   Poorly differentiated

116 (16.6)

12 (1.5)

Tumor location (n = 865)

   Upper third

45 (5.9)

6 (5.8)

0.65

   Middle third

126 (16.6)

21 (20.2)

   Lower third

590 (77.5)

77 (74.0)

Tumor length (n = 811)

   ≤3 cm

387 (54.2)

57 (58.8)

0.16

   3–6 cm

247 (34.6)

25 (25.8)

   >6 cm

80 (11.2)

15 (15.5)

Neoadjuvant CCRT (n = 823)

91 (13.6)

21 (13.5)

0.95

Comorbid condition

   Hypertension

332 (39)

40 (33)

0.27

   Diabetes mellitus

130 (15)

17 (14)

0.79

   Pulmonary dysfunctiona

253 (29)

39 (32)

0.49

   Cardiac disease

43 (5)

1 (1)

0.0389

   Cerebrovascular disease

42 (5)

7 (6)

0.66

   Renal dysfunction

7 (1)

1 (1)

1.00

Intraoperative data

   Duration of surgery (min)

276 [237–348]

268 [237–355]

0.80

Type of surgery

   Ivor Lewis operation

480 (56)

74 (62)

0.16

   Three fields operation

161 (19)

27 (23)

   Three holes operation

107 (12)

8 (7)

   Etc.b

51 (6)

5 (4)

Net balance of fluid (ml)

381 [34–770]

533 [158–986]

0.0064

Infusion of inotrope

203 (24)

29 (24)

0.89

Infusion of vasopressor

485 (56)

79 (66)

0.05

Transfusion

44 (5)

12 (10)

0.0308

Thoracic epidural analgesia

301 (35)

54 (45)

0.0328

Hospital days (day)

13 [11–16]

12.5 [11–16]

0.75

ICU stay (day)

2 [2–3]

2 [2–3]

0.92

  1. Values are presented as median [interquartile] or n (%). aPulmonary dysfunction included lung diseases (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bronchiectasis, asthma, interstitial lung disease), preoperative forced expiratory volume in one-second (FEV1) <60% of predicted value and current smoker; current smoker was defined as patients who kept smoking or stop smoking within 1 month before surgery. bEtc. included esophagocolonogastrostomy, esophagocolonojejunostomy, transhiatal esophagectgomy, and total gastrectomy. Abbreviations: ASA American Society of Anesthesiologist, TNM tumor node metastasis, CCRT concurrent chemoradiotherapy, ICU intensive care unit.