Infectious Postoperative Complications Decrease Long-term Survival in Patients Undergoing Curative Surgery for Colorectal Cancer: A Study of 12,075 Patients

OBJECTIVE:We sought to characterize the effect of postoperative complications on long-term survival after colorectal cancer (CRC) resection. BACKGROUND:The impact of early morbidity on long-term survival after curative-intent CRC surgery remains controversial. METHODS:The Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program and Central Cancer Registry databases were linked to acquire perioperative and cancer-specific data for 12,075 patients undergoing resection for nonmetastatic CRC (1999–2009). Patients were categorized by presence of any complication within 30 days and by type of complication (noninfectious vs infectious). Univariate and multivariate survival analyses adjusted for patient, disease, and treatment factors were performed, excluding early deaths (