Semi-end-to-end esophagojejunostomy after laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy better reduces stricture and leakage than the conventional end-to-side procedure: A retrospective study

Laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) has not gained popularity due to the technical difficulty of esophagojejunostomy (EJ) and the high incidence of EJ-related complications. Herein, we compared two types of EJ for Roux-en-Y reconstruction to determine whether semi-end-to-end (SETE) EJ is more convenient than the end-to-side (ETS) procedure and is capable of reducing stricture and leakage.A total of 268 patients who underwent LATG with Roux-en-Y reconstruction were included in this study. Two types of EJ were applied for LATG: conventional ETS EJ and SETE EJ. The surgical outcomes and postoperative complications were compared.The mean reconstruction time in the SETE group was shorter than that in the ETS group (41.6 ± 8.0 min vs 51.3 ± 9.2 min, P = 0.000). The incidences of total EJ-related complications, EJ leakage, and EJ stricture in the SETE group and ETS group were 1.1% (1/92) and 10.2% (18/176), 1.1% (1/92) and 4.0% (7/176), and 0 and 6.2% (11/176), respectively. The incidence of total EJ-related complications in the SETE group was lower than that of the ETS group (P = 0.006), and the incidence of EJ stricture in the SETE group was lower than that of the ETS group (P = 0.034).SETE EJ is more convenient than the conventional ETS procedure and is associated with a shorter reconstruction time and a lower incidence of EJ stricture and leakage.