For patients with gastric cancer, in order to cure it as soon as possible, the preferred treatment method for most patients is to undergo surgical resection. Although this method has a higher possibility of curing stomach cancer, it can lead to some complications after surgery, which can affect the health and life of patients. What are the complications of gastric cancer? Anastomotic fistula: This postoperative complication is a common but serious complication after gastric cancer surgery, but gastric cancer patients should not be too alarmed, as its incidence has been reduced due to the application of anastomosis and improvement of surgical skills in recent years. However, patients with gastric cancer should not be too alarmed because the incidence of this complication has been reduced due to the application of anastomosis and improved surgical techniques. Generally speaking, anastomotic fistulas occurring 2-3 days after surgery are mostly due to surgical technique; while those occurring 7 days after surgery are due to the lack of surgical technique.
In general, anastomotic fistulas that occur 2-3 days after surgery are mostly due to surgical techniques; while those that occur 7-9 days after surgery are often due to other combined factors. Intestinal obstruction: This postoperative complication of gastric cancer is more complex and lighter, mainly including functional intestinal obstruction and mechanical intestinal obstruction. Among them, those occurring around 10 days after gastric cancer surgery are mostly functional intestinal obstruction, but it is not absolute. Gastric bleeding: this postoperative complication of gastric cancer is one of the most common postoperative complications of patients, mostly manifested as anastomotic bleeding, which is mainly due to the failure to completely suture the blood vessels when suturing the gastric wall, especially when the suture is too shallow or not tight in the whole layer, and sometimes bleeding from the blood vessels of the gastric wall into the mucosa is not suitable to be detected. In recent years, delayed hemorrhage can occur with some poor quality anastomoses that close or anastomose the gastric wall during surgery. In addition, stress ulcers are also a common cause of postoperative gastric bleeding. The bleeding can be diffuse, often coffee-colored or dull red, and usually lasts for 3-5 days. Complications after gastric cancer surgery are directly related to the 5-year survival rate of patients and their quality of life issues. In order to live a better and quality life, gastric cancer patients must care about post-operative issues. From small living habits to big regular review, all of them are indispensable. How to take care of complications? Care of anastomotic fistula: A drainage tube can be placed after gastric cancer surgery, which can not only exclude residual fluid and residual cancer cells in the abdominal cavity, but also observe whether there is bleeding and fistula formation. If anastomotic fistula occurs, local cleanliness can be maintained through flushing and low negative pressure suction to promote healing of the leak. Whether to perform surgery after anastomotic fistula should be determined by the size of the leak, the amount of drainage and the systemic and local conditions, among which temperature, pulse, abdominal pain and white blood cell count are often important observation indicators. If all of these are normal, conservative treatment is feasible; if the fistula is large, occurs early, has a lot of drainage, and has abdominal pain and other signs, surgical drainage should be the main treatment. In addition, if anastomotic fistula occurs after gastric cancer surgery, protein amount and water and electrolyte balance should be maintained regardless of the treatment method. Care of intestinal obstruction: 1. Functional intestinal obstruction: It can be relieved after rehydration and conservative treatment. Recently, 80 ml of pantethine gum is commonly used orally to observe and understand the discharging situation, and due to gravity, it is possible to ventilate and pass stool within 12 hours, and drug discharge can be seen. If the patient only shows abdominal distension, ambiguous gas, eructation, vomiting, etc., it can often be relieved by giving conservative treatment for 3-4 weeks. If the patient shows sudden abdominal pain, vomiting, abdominal muscle spasm, pressure pain, rebound pain, or even intestinal necrosis and shock, emergency surgery should be performed to relieve the obstruction. In addition, if it is complete intestinal obstruction, surgery is required. Care of gastric bleeding: strengthening several stitches on the unreliable parts after anastomosis and closure of the gastric wall during surgery can often reduce postoperative bleeding; if the bleeding is small, local hemostatic drugs can be applied, and epinephrine dilution can also be injected into the gastric cavity, which is often effective. If the bleeding volume exceeds 100 ml, the bleeding volume is considered large and requires emergency surgery; if the bleeding is caused by stress ulcers, taking drugs such as omeprazole, cimetidine and prothrombin complexes can be effective. In addition, in recent years, some people have also used octreotide 100 mg sedation, or 500-1000 micrograms in 24 hours at a rate of 50 micrograms per hour to maintain intravenous drip for the treatment of bleeding due to stress ulcer.