Background Patients undergoing esophagectomy are at serious risk of developing postoperative complications. To support early recognition of clinical deterioration, wireless sensor technologies that enable continuous vital signs monitoring in a ward setting are emerging. Objective This study explored nurses’ and surgeons’ expectations of the potential effectiveness and impact of continuous wireless vital signs monitoring in patients admitted to the ward after esophagectomy. Methods Semistructured interviews were conducted at 3 esophageal cancer centers in the Netherlands. In each center, 2 nurses and 2 surgeons were interviewed regarding their expectations of continuous vital signs monitoring for early recognition of complications after esophagectomy. Historical data of patient characteristics and clinical outcomes were collected in each center and presented to the local participants to support estimations on clinical outcome. Results The majority of nurses and surgeons expected that continuous vital signs monitoring could contribute to the earlier recognition of deterioration and result in earlier treatment for postoperative complications, although the effective time gain would depend on patient and situational factors. Their expectations regarding the impact of potential earlier diagnosis on clinical outcomes varied. Nevertheless, most caregivers would consider implementing continuous monitoring in the surgical ward to support patient monitoring after esophagectomy. Conclusions Caregivers expected that wireless vital signs monitoring would provide opportunities for early detection of postoperative complications in patients undergoing esophagectomy admitted to the ward and prevent sequelae under certain circumstances. As the technology matures, clinical outcome studies will be necessary to objectify these expectations and further investigate overall effects on patient outcome.

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BACKGROUND Patients undergoing esophagectomy are at serious risk of developing postoperative complications. To support early recognition of clinical deterioration, wireless sensor technologies that enable continuous vital signs monitoring in a ward setting are emerging. OBJECTIVE This study explored nurses’ and surgeons’ expectations of the potential effectiveness and impact of continuous wireless vital signs monitoring in patients admitted to the ward after esophagectomy. METHODS Semistructured interviews were conducted at 3 esophageal cancer centers in the Netherlands. In each center, 2 nurses and 2 surgeons were interviewed regarding their expectations of continuous vital signs monitoring for early recognition of complications after esophagectomy. Historical data of patient characteristics and clinical outcomes were collected in each center and presented to the local participants to support estimations on clinical outcome. RESULTS The majority of nurses and surgeons expected that continuous vital signs monitoring could contribute to the earlier recognition of deterioration and result in earlier treatment for postoperative complications, although the effective time gain would depend on patient and situational factors. Their expectations regarding the impact of potential earlier diagnosis on clinical outcomes varied. Nevertheless, most caregivers would consider implementing continuous monitoring in the surgical ward to support patient monitoring after esophagectomy. CONCLUSIONS Caregivers expected that wireless vital signs monitoring would provide opportunities for early detection of postoperative complications in patients undergoing esophagectomy admitted to the ward and prevent sequelae under certain circumstances. As the technology matures, clinical outcome studies will be necessary to objectify these expectations and further investigate overall effects on patient outcome.

Objective: To develop a predictive model for early recurrence after surgery for oesophageal adenocarcinoma using a large multi-national cohort. Summary Background Data: Early cancer recurrence after oesophagectomy is a common problem with an incidence of 20-30% despite the widespread use of neoadjuvant treatment. Quantification of this risk is difficult and existing models perform poorly. Machine learning techniques potentially allow more accurate prognostication and have been applied in this study. Methods: Consecutive patients who underwent oesophagectomy for adenocarcinoma and had neoadjuvant treatment in 6 UK and 1 Dutch oesophago-gastric units were analysed. Using clinical characteristics and post-operative histopathology, models were generated using elastic net regression (ELR) and the machine learning methods random forest (RF) and XG boost (XGB). Finally, a combined (Ensemble) model of these was generated. The relative importance of factors to outcome was calculated as a percentage contribution to the model. Result: In total 812 patients were included. The recurrence rate at less than 1 year was 29.1%. All of the models demonstrated good discrimination. Internally validated AUCs were similar, with the Ensemble model performing best (ELR=0.785, RF=0.789, XGB=0.794, Ensemble=0.806). Performance was similar when using internal-external validation (validation across sites, Ensemble AUC=0.804). In the final model the most important variables were number of positive lymph nodes (25.7%) and vascular invasion (16.9%). Conclusions: The derived model using machine learning approaches and an international dataset provided excellent performance in quantifying the risk of early recurrence after surgery and will be useful in prognostication for clinicians and patients.

Survival of recurrent esophageal cancer is usually poor, with limited prospects of remission. This study investigated the predictors, patterns and survival of recurrent disease following esophageal cancer surgery. This nationwide cohort study included patients with resectable distal esophageal and gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma undergoing curatively intended esophagectomy from January 2007 until December 2016 (follow-up until January 2020). Patients with distant metastases detected during surgery were excluded. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were used to identify predictors of recurrent disease. Multivariable Cox regression was used to determine the association of recurrence site (locoregional or distant) and treatment intent (none, palliative, curative) with post-recurrence survival. Among 4626 patients, 45.1% developed recurrent disease at a median of 11 months postoperatively, of whom most had distant metastases (59.8%). Disease recurrences were most frequently hepatic (26.2%) or pulmonary (25.1%). Young age (≤65 years), male sex, adenocarcinoma, open surgery, transthoracic esophagectomy, non-radical resection, higher T-stage, and (y)pN+ stage were significantly associated with disease recurrence. Overall, median post-recurrence survival was 4 months (95%CI 3.6–4.4). Median survival after locoregional recurrence was 7 months (95%CI 5.7–8.4) and favorable compared to distant recurrence (HR = 0.74, 95%CI 0.65–0.84). For 127 patients that underwent curatively intended treatment for recurrence, median survival was 20 months (95%CI 16.4–23.7). This study provides important prognostic information assisting in the surveillance and counseling of patients after curatively intended esophageal cancer surgery. Nearly half of included patients developed recurrent disease, and risk of recurrence was higher in patients with, amongst others, higher tumor stage, non-radical resection and tumor positive lymph nodes. Overall, patients with recurrent disease had limited prospects of survival, although median survival after curatively intended treatment reached 20 months.