Short-term outcome of side-to-side stapled cervical esophagogastrostomy after esophagectomy / 中华消化外科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To evaluate the short-term outcome of side-to-side staple cervical esophagogastrostomy after esophagectomy. Methods The clinical data of 105 patients with esophageal cancer who were admitted to the Daping Hospital from January 2006 to March 2009 were retrospectively analyzed. Of the 105 patients, 97 received side-to-side stapled cervical esophagogastrostomy and eight received traditional hand-sewn end-to-end cervical esophagogastrostomy. Nine patients were selected from the 97 patients who received side-to-side stapled cervical esophagogastrostomy to conduct matched pair analysis. The efficacy of the two methods was analyzed using the t test. Results No postoperative death was observed. The mean operation time of side-to-side staple cervical esophagogastrostomy was (21 ± 3 )minutes (range, 15-30 minutes). Postoperative complications were observed in 16 patients, including pulmonary complications in seven patients, vocal cord paralysis in four patients, anastomotic leakage in three patients and anastomotic stricture in two patients. The mean anastomotic diameter of patients who received side-to-side staple cervical esophagogastrostomy was ( 3. 01 ± 0. 17 ) cm, which was significantly longer than ( 1.69 ± 0. 26) cm of patients who received traditional hand-sewn end-to-end cervical esophagogastrostomy (t =2. 093, P ＜0.05 ). Dysphagia occurred in two patients who received side-to-side stapled cervical esophagogastrostomy and in four patients who received traditional hand-sewn end-to-end cervical esophagogastrostomy.Conclusions Side-to-side stapled cervical esophagogastrostomy is simple, safe and effective for patients with esophageal cancer after esophagectomy. This technique could decrease the incidence of postoperative dysphagia and improve the pharyngo-esophageal motor function.