BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to explore the potential impact of
pyloric stenosis (PS) on the nutritional status, the incidence of postoperative complications, and the long-term prognosis of distal
gastric cancer (GC) patients after curative resection. MATERIAL AND METHODS We retrospectively analyzed the data of 343 GC patients who underwent curative
gastrectomy for
gastric cancer between January 2010 and December 2013. All patients were divided into 2 groups according to the status of PS. Their clinical and pathological features, nutritional indicators, and incidence of postoperative complications were compared and potential prognostic factors were analyzed using the propensity score matching analysis (PSM). RESULTS Seventy-four (21.6%) patients had PS. Patients with PS had worse survival outcomes than those without PS (χ²=21.369, P<0.001). Multivariate survival analysis demonstrated that PS, depth of invasion, and
lymph node metastasis (all P<0.05) were the independent predictors of overall survival (OS). Patients with PS had significantly higher
lymph node metastasis in No. 3, 4sb, 4d, 6, 8a, 9, and 14v lymph nodes. Patients with PS had significantly lower preoperative BMI, more
weight loss, and lower
prealbumin than those without PS. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in postoperative complications, morbidity, or mortality. CONCLUSIONS Distal GC patients with PS have poor clinicopathological and nutritional status and poor prognosis. However, PS does not increase surgery-related morbidity and mortality.