Reconstruction of upper mediastinal pleura reduces postoperative complications in enhanced recovery surgery system after esophagectomy: A propensity score matching study

Objectives This study aimed to explore the effect of suturing upper mediastinum pleura on postoperative complications, surgery-related mortality, and hospital stay. Methods Four hundred and thirty-eight patients with esophageal cancer who underwent esophagectomy were identified. Patients were divided into two groups: those in the test group who received reconstruction of upper mediastinal pleura, those in the conventional group who did not. The incidence of postoperative complications, surgery-related mortality, and hospital stay were compared. To reduce the impact of confounding factors, a propensity score matching (PSM) method was performed. Results A total of 273 patients were treated with suturing upper mediastinal pleura and 165 were not. After PSM, compared with the conventional group, the incidence of atelectasis (7.2% vs. 1.4%, p = 0.035), anastomotic leakage (5.8% vs. 0.7%, p = 0.036), and delayed gastric emptying (10.8% vs. 3.6%, p = 0.034) were significantly lower in the test group. And suturing the upper mediastinal pleura could reduce the severity of leakage (p = 0.045), consistent with the results before PSM. Moreover, there were no significant differences in the incidence of other complications, postoperative hospital stay, and 30-day mortality (all p > 0.05). Conclusions In this study, suturing the upper mediastinal pleura can reduce the incidence of atelectasis, anastomotic leakage, and delayed gastric emptying, and the severity of leakage, without increasing the incidence of other complications, surgery-related death, and postoperative hospital stay.