Laparoscopically Assisted Proximal Gastrectomy with Esophagogastrostomy Using a Novel "Open-Door" Technique

Laparoscopy-assisted proximal gastrectomy (LAPG) with esophagogastrostomy using a novel "open-door" technique was introduced recently, with the aim of preventing gastroesophageal reflux. However, quantitate assessment of gastroesophageal reflux after this surgery has not been performed till date. The aims of the current study were to investigate the safety and feasibility of this operation and to elucidate the postoperative reflux status. Twenty consecutive patients (18 men) with (y)cStage I gastric cancer in the upper third of the stomach who underwent LAPG at Kitasato University Hospital from May 2015 through September 2016 were retrospectively reviewed. We performed 24-h impedance-pH monitoring 3 months after surgery for the first eight patients and analyzed the postoperative reflux status. Median operation time was 333 min, while median anastomotic time was 81 min. None of the 20 patients experienced anastomotic leakage while two patients experienced anastomotic stricture requiring endoscopic balloon dilatation. No patient experienced heartburn without antacid drugs. During the 24-h impedance-pH monitoring, all but one patient had normal gastroesophageal acid reflux with the acid percent time of < 1.1% and reflux percent time of < 1.4%. One patient with marginally abnormal postoperative gastroesophageal reflux had a normal DeMeester score of 3.0. Our results showed that esophagogastrostomy using the "open-door" technique is a safe and feasible procedure for LAPG. The degree of gastroesophageal reflux was acceptable using this technique. Randomized controlled trials with long-term follow-ups are required to confirm that this technique would be superior to the others.