Only about 40 percent of patients who undergo minimally invasive esophagectomy for esophageal cancer reach full occupational recovery one year postoperatively, MedPage Today reports.
Here are six things to know.
1. Melissa Geeraerts, MD, of ZGT Almelo in Belgium, reported the results of this retrospective study at the 16th World Congress of Endoscopic Surgery in Seattle.
2. Esophageal cancer is the eighth-most common cancer in the world and the sixth-greatest cause of cancer-related death.
3. Dr. Geeraerts retrieved data from three referral hospitals in the Netherlands and provided questionnaires to participants, asking about preoperative employment status, whether they were full- or part-time workers, if they were employed or self-employed, and whether they held blue-collar or white-collar jobs.
4. At three months postoperatively, 70 percent of participants were not working and only 9 percent were working to their full capacity. Only self-employment predicted a full return to work.
5. More than half — 55.8 percent — of patients reported complaints that prevented them from returning to work, most frequently physical or mental fatigue.
6. Only 70 percent of patients were fully or partially back at work one year after minimally invasive esophagectomy. Dr. Geeraerts claimed it is important to inform and prepare patients for how the procedure may impact their career.
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