Early postoperative fluid retention is a strong predictor for complications after pancreatoduodenectomy

Background: Perioperative fluid overload has been reported to increase complications after a variety of operative procedures. This study was conducted to investigate the incidence of fluid retention after pancreatic resection and its association with postoperative complications. Methods: Data from 1174 patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy between 2010 and 2016 were collected from the Swedish National Pancreatic and Periampullary Cancer Registry. Early postoperative fluid retention was defined as a weight gain ≥2 kg on postoperative day 1. Outcome measures were overall complications, as well as procedure-specific complications. Results: The weight change on postoperative day 1 ranged from −1 kg to +9 kg. A total of 782 patients (66.6%) were considered to have early fluid retention. Patients with fluid retention had significantly higher rates of total complications (p = 0.002), surgical complications (p = 0.001), pancreatic anastomotic leakage (p = 0.018) and wound infection (p = 0.023). Multivariable logistic regression confirmed early fluid retention as an independent risk factor for total complications (OR 1.46; p = 0.003), surgical complications (OR 1.49; p = 0.002), pancreatic anastomotic leakage (OR 1.48; p = 0.027) and wound infection (OR 1.84; p = 0.023). Conclusions: Fluid retention is common after elective pancreatic resection, and its associated with an increased rate of postoperative complications.