Introduction:

Anastomotic leak is the main complication of esophageal surgery, with high incidence and mortality rates.

Objective:

To identify the factors involved in the appearance of anastomotic leak in patients operated on for esophageal cancer in Cuba in the period from 1988 to 2020.

Methods:

A nonrandomized, multicenter, clinical-epidemiological and observational investigation was carried out in the period from 1988 to 2020. The universe and the sample consisted of 2844 and 595 patients from nine hospital centers. Some of the variables studied included sex, age, histological variety, surgical intervention performed, comorbidities, and their interrelation with anastomotic leak.

Results:

Anastomotic leak prevailed in the group aged over 55 years (17.8%), in the female sex (65; 10.9%), in nonsmokers (79; 13.3%) and in those who did not ingest alcoholic beverages (100, 16.8%); as well as in patients with normal albumin levels (98; 16.5%), with low proteins (94; 15.7%) and with normal levels of hemoglobin (105; 17.6%). In the histological variety of adenocarcinoma (65; 10.9%), there was a predominance of the transhiatal surgical technique (69; 11.6%), performed manually (123; 20.7%), of cervical location (111; 18.6%), in the anterior face (57; 9.6%), in one plane (78; 13.1%), and in the termino-lateral variant (120; 20.2%).

Conclusions:

Anastomotic leak prevailed in women aged over 50 years, with adenocarcinoma, operated on through transhiatal techniques, manually, in one plane, using the termino-lateral variant, in the anterior face and with hypoproteinemia.

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