Modified operation to treat types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To study the effects of a gastric tube anastomosis in the intraperitoneal operation for types II and III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG).

METHODOLOGY: Thirty-one patients with types II and III AEG were selected for proximal gastrectomy. After the proximal gastrectomy by the abdominal approach, the gastric remnant was cut into a tubular shape. The esophagus was then anastomosed to the gastric tube.

RESULTS

The surgical technique was performed on all 31 patients with types II or III AEG. The operation time was 279.52±34.99min, average surgery blood loss was 209.68±185.82mL, the number of hospital postoperative days was 10.48±2.01. All cases were followed-up for 2-12 months. One (3.2%) patient had postoperative anastomotic bleeding and another case had intractable hiccups. Only 3 (9.7%) patients felt heartburn after the operation. One (3.2%) patient was found to be suffering from reflux esophagitis through endoscopic examination. In addition, 1 (3.4%) patient had tumor recurrence.

CONCLUSIONS

Using gastric tubes is a safe surgical technique and is followed by only a small number of complications at the early postoperative stage.