Evaluation of physical and mental recovery status after elective liver resection

Background and objective This prospective, clinical pilot trial compared the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and a nine-item quality of recovery [Quality of Recovery 9 (QoR-9)] survey to assess the 1-week outcome after liver resection and prediction of postoperative complications from baseline values before liver resection. Methods In 19 patients, the SF-36 was recorded preoperatively (baseline) and on postoperative day (POD) 7. SF-36 z-values (means ± SD) for the physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) were calculated. QoR-9 (score 0–18) was performed at baseline, POD1, POD3, POD5 and POD7. Descriptive analysis and effect sizes (d) were calculated. Results From baseline to POD7, PCS decreased from −0.38 ± 1.30 to −2.10 ± 0.76 (P = 0.002, d = −1.57) and MCS from −0.71 ± 1.50 to −1.33 ± 1.11 (P = 0.061, d = −0.46). QoR-9 was significantly lower at POD1, POD3 and POD5 compared with baseline (P < 0.050, d < −2.0), but not at POD7 (P = 0.060, d = −1.08). Baseline PCS was significantly lower with a high effect size in patients with complications (n = 12) compared with patients without complications (n = 7) (−0.76 ± 1.46 vs. 0.27 ± 0.56; P = 0.044, d = −0.84) but not baseline MCS (P = 0.831, d = −0.10) or baseline QoR-9 (P = 0.384, d = −0.44). Conclusions The SF-36 indicates that liver resection surgery has a higher impact on physical health than on mental health. QoR-9 determines the feasible time course of recovery with a 1-week return to baseline. Preoperative impaired physical health might predict postoperative complications.