Clinical outcomes of gastric tube reconstruction following laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy for early gastric cancer in the upper third of the stomach: experience with 100 consecutive cases

Abstract

Background Gastric tube reconstruction is a form of esophagogastrostomy performed after laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG). It is a simple and safe technique, but it may cause reflux esophagitis (RE) and impair postsurgical QOL. For several years, we have developed the gastric tube reconstruction and performed it on more than 100 patients. This study aimed to determine whether gastric tube reconstruction can be a feasible choice after LPG in regard to surgical safety and postoperative nutritional status. Methods The subjects consisted of 171 patients who underwent LPG (n = 102) or laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) (n = 69). We compared the two groups in terms of surgical outcomes, incidence rate of RE, and nutritional status including postoperative weight loss and hemoglobin levels. Results There were no significant differences with regard to the surgical duration and blood loss between the two groups. The incidence of RE was not significantly higher with LPG than with LTG (16.7% vs. 10.1%, respectively; P = 0.07). Later than 2 years and 6 months after surgery, the body weight percentage of preoperative body weight in the LPG group was significantly higher than that in the LTG group. Hemoglobin and ferritin levels in the LPG group were significantly higher than those in the LTG group, later than one after surgery. The overall survival rates were similar between the two groups (5-year survival rates: 97.1% vs. 94.2% in the LPG and LTG groups, respectively; P = 0.69). Conclusions Gastric tube reconstruction after LPG is simple and had better outcomes than LTG in terms of postoperative nutritional status.