Effects of the Strength, Assistance in walking, Rise from a chair, Climb stairs, and Falls score on postoperative clinical outcomes following colorectal cancer surgery: a retrospective study.

Background/objectives: Sarcopenia has known negative effects on clinical and oncological outcomes in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). The use of the Strength, Assistance in walking, Rise from a chair, Climb stairs, and Falls (SARC-F) questionnaire to determine the effects of sarcopenia on postoperative complications of CRC has not been reported to date. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship of SARC-F score with clinicopathologic outcomes after CRC surgery.

Subjects/methods: We retrospectively included 285 patients who completed SARC-F questionnaires before CRC surgery between July 2019 and March 2022. Patients with an SARC-F score ≥4 (total score: 10) were classified in the high SARC-F group.

Results: Overall, 34 (11.9%) patients had high SARC-F scores. These patients were older (76.9 ± 8.5 vs. 64.5 ± 11.4 years, p < 0.001) and had a higher preoperative CRP (2.5 ± 3.9 vs. 0.8 ± 1.6 mg/L, p = 0.019), lower body mass index (21.7 ± 3.4 vs. 24.0 ± 3.8 kg/m², p = 0.001), and higher pan-immune-inflammation value (632.3 ± 615.5 vs. 388.9 ± 413.8, p = 0.031). More postoperative complications were noted in the high SARC-F group than in the low SARC-F group (58.8% vs. 35.6%, p = 0.009). High SARC-F scores were significantly associated with higher nodal stage, higher number of harvested lymph nodes, and larger tumor size. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed high SARC-F score and operation time as independent risk factors associated with postoperative complications (odds ratio, 2.212/1.922; 95% confidence interval, 1.021-4.792/1.163-3.175; p = 0.044/0.011, respectively).

Conclusions: Preoperative SARC-F score was an independent risk factor associated with postoperative complications following colorectal cancer surgery.