Abstract
Background
Anastomotic leakage, fibrous stricture and gastroesophageal reflux are three major complications of gastroesophageal anastomosis, particularly in cervical anastomosis. Our aim was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel cervical anastomosis technique (NA) by comparing it to the traditional side-to-side anastomosis (SS), and the end-to-side anastomosis using a circular stapler (CS) in terms of postoperative leakage, stricture and reflux.
Methods
A total of 390 patients with thoracic esophageal cancer underwent a minimally invasive esophagectomy with cervical anastomosis (192 with NA, 34 with SS and 164 with CS) in our institute from January 2013 and May 2016. The new anastomotic technique was improved from a type of side-to-side anastomosis technique which was reported by Collard et al. The difference of our new technique is that the part of the anastomotic stump was pushed into the tubular stomach. It let the end part of esophagus was embedded in the gastric tube while the end portion of the stomach was also reversed into the gastric tube (figure 1, 2, 3). The major postoperative complications including postoperative leakage, stricture and reflux were compared using three armed controlled study.
Results
With regard to the incidence of anastomotic leakage and reflux, the patients who underwent Jiang's anastomosis had a significantly lower rate than those in the SS group and CS group (Leaks: 1.0% vs. 8.8% and 8.5%, P = 0.025, 0.001; Reflux: 5.7% vs. 23.5% and 18.3%, P = 0.003, 0.001). The incidence of dysphagia was 10.4% with an occurrence rate of 1.5% for anastomotic strictures in the NA group. It was significant lower than that in the CS group (41.5% vs. 18.9%, P < 0.05) but not significantly different from that in SS group (11.8% vs. 2.9%).
Conclusion
The novel anastomotic technique remarkably reduced the incidence of gastroesophageal-anastomotic leakage, stricture and reflux and was a safe and effective technique for minimally invasive esophagectomy.
Disclosure
All authors have declared no conflicts of interest.
The ratio of gastric tube length to thorax length: a vital factor affecting leak after esophageal cervical anastomosis
