Association of chronic statin use, myopenia, myosteatosis and major morbidity in surgical patients with upper gastrointestinal cancer

Derangements of body composition affect surgical outcomes. Chronic statin use may induce muscle wasting and impair muscle tissue quality. Aim of this study was to evaluate the association of chronic statin use, skeletal muscle area (SMA), myosteatosis and major postoperative morbidity. Between 2011 and 2021, patients undergoing pancreatoduodenectomy or total gastrectomy for cancer, and using statins since at least 1 year, were retrospective studied. SMA and myosteatosis were measured at CT scan. The cut-off for SMA and myosteatosis were determined using ROC curve and considering severe complications as the binary outcome. The presence of myopenia was defined when SMA was lower that the cut-off. A multivariable logistic regression was applied to assess the association between several factors and severe complications. After a matching procedure (1:1) for key baseline risk factors (ASA; age; Charlson comorbidity index; tumor site; intraoperative blood loss), a final sample of 104 patients, of which 52 treated and 52 not treated with statins, was obtained. The median age was 75 years, with an ASA score ≥ 3 in 63% of the cases. SMA (OR 5.119, 95% CI 1.053–24.865) and myosteatosis (OR 4.234, 95% CI 1.511–11.866) below the cut-off values were significantly associated with major morbidity. Statin use was predictive of major complication only in patients with preoperative myopenia (OR 5.449, 95% CI 1.054–28.158). Myopenia and myosteatosis were independently associated with an increased risk of severe complications. Statin use was associated with a higher risk of having major morbidity only in the subgroup of patients with myopenia.