Sarcopenia is associated with postoperative infection and delayed recovery from colorectal cancer resection surgery

Skeletal muscle depletion (sarcopenia) predicts morbidity and mortality in the elderly and cancer patients.

We tested whether sarcopenia predicts primary colorectal cancer resection outcomes in stage II-IV patients (n=234). Sarcopenia was assessed using preoperative computed tomography images. Administrative hospitalisation data encompassing the index surgical admission, direct transfers for inpatient rehabilitation care and hospital re-admissions within 30 days was searched for International Classification of Disease (ICD)-10 codes for postoperative infections and inpatient rehabilitation care and used to calculate length of stay (LOS).