Abstract
Several factors are crucial in the selection of surgical treatment for oral cancer. These include the patient’s age and healthy life expectancy, general medical condition, tolerance of treatment, patient acceptance of surgery and socioeconomic considerations. In general, older age is not a primary consideration for surgical risk. However, advancement of intercurrent disease and aggravation of general medical condition increase the risk of complications after extensive surgical treatment. In the present study, we analyzed risk factors related to complications after radical surgery for oral cancer. A total of 196 patients underwent radical surgery for oral cancer in our hospital from 2011 to 2015. We excluded 83 patients with primary tumor resection alone and analyzed the remaining 113 patients who underwent neck dissection. Data on these patients were retrospectively collected and the incidence of complications within 30 days after surgery was assessed. We defined postoperative complications according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Prognostic factors associated with major complications were analyzed by Fisher exact tests and logistic regression analysis. Most of the complications were surgical site infection. Multivariate analysis identified ASA （≥ 3） and NLR （≥ 3.00） as significant risk factors for the development of postoperative complications. Further study is needed to explore alternative perioperative managements to decrease postoperative complications in patients with oral cancer.
