Abstract
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the safety and technical feasibility of intracorporeal hand-sewn esophagojejunostomy after laparoscopic total gastrectomy. Laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) is a technically challenging procedure, especially for esophagojejunal anastomosis (EJA). Various techniques have been described to overcome these difficulties using staplers with variable results. We report successfully performed complete intracorporeal hand-sewn EJA after LTG. The perioperative clinical data and short-term outcomes for 30 patients who underwent LTG using hand-sewn EJA for gastric cancer between 2013 and 2015 have been retrospectively reviewed. The mean age was 49.9 years; 64 % of patients were male and 36 % were female. The mean body mass index (kg/m(2)) was 22.4, and the mean American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) score was 1.4. Eleven patients had co-morbidities, and six patients had previous abdominal operations. The mean operative time, time for EJA, and blood loss was 136.9 min, 13.25 min, and 166 ml, respectively. The conversion rate was nil. The mean time for the first oral feeding and mean hospital stay was 8.3 and 9.8 days respectively. The postoperative complications were found in 16 % of patients with one case of 30-day mortality because of lobar pneumonia. There were three cases of anastomotic stenosis; however, no leakage was identified both clinically and radiologically. Complete intracorporeal hand-sewn EJA is a safe and feasible technique in the hands of experienced surgeons that can be considered as an alternative cost-effective method when performing LTG.