Abstract: Objective To investigate the effect of sarcopenia on preoperative evaluation and postoperative complications in the elderly patients with gastric cancer. Methods The clinical data of 102 elderly patients with gastric cancer in Nanjing Hospital Affiliated to Nanjing Medical University from January 2008 to December 2019 were analyzed retrospectively. They were divided into sarcopenia group (n=49) and non-sarcopenia group (n=53). The preoperative nutritional status and hospital stay, postoperative complications, ICU occupancy rate and occupancy time, postoperative hospital stay, mortality were compared between the two groups. Results There were no significant differences in the level of preoperative hemoglobin, the incidence rates of postoperative abdominal infection and gastrointestinal fistula, the number of secondary operations and mortality between the two groups (P>0. 05). There were significant differences in the levels of preoperative albumin and prealbumin, the length of preoperative hospital stay and postoperative hospital stay, ICU occupancy rate and occupancy time, postoperative ventilation time, the incidence rates of postoperative pulmonary infection and pleural effusion between the two groups (P<0. 05). Conclusions Sarcopenia can be used as an objective index for preoperative evaluation in the elderly patients with gastric cancer. Preoperative sarcopenia will increase the incidence of postoperative complications and ICU occupancy rate in the elderly patients with gastric cancer.

Key words: sarcopenia, aged, gastric cancer, preoperative evaluation, complication