AN EVALUATION OF SYMPTOMS AND PERFORMANCE STATUS IN PATIENTS AFTER ESOPHAGECTOMY FOR ESOPHAGEAL CANCER FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF THE PATIENT

We used a questionnaire method to investigate the complaints and the l ife conditions of 81 patients after esophagectomy for esophageal cance r. Patients were separated into three groups according to their follow -up time: less than 2 years, more than 2 years but less than 5 years, and more than 5 years after surgery. The distribution of complaints wa s similar regardless of the time elapsed since surgery. Only 22% of al l patients had no complaints. Abdominal fullness and stenotic sensatio n were the major complaints. Body weight was unstable for 2 years foll owing surgery, but subsequently stabilized. The content of meals, volu me of meals, and Performance Status (PS) did not differ significantly among the groups and were indicative of satisfactory recovery. Our res ults suggest that in contrast to other surgeries, postoperative sympto ms persist in esophagectomyed patients with long survival and that abo ut half of the cases whose follow-up time was less than 2 years have u nstable body weight.