ObjectiveTo explore clinical outcomes of complete mechanical cervical side-to-side esophago-gastric tube anastomosis. MethodsClinical data of 60 patients with esophageal carcinoma (EC)who underwent complete mechanical cervical side-to-side esophago-gastric tube anastomosis in the 153rd Central Hospital of People's Liberation Army from June 2010 to June 2012 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 41 male and 19 female patients with their age of 46-78 (64.2±6.4)years and body weight of 58.6±12.6 kg. There were 39 patients with mid-thoracic EC, 15 patients with lower-thoracic EC, and 6 patients with upper-thoracic EC. There was 1 patient with stageⅠ EC, 32 patients with stage Ⅱ EC, 23 patients with stage Ⅲ EC, and 4 patients with stage Ⅳ EC. Six to 12 months after the operation, all the patients received a survey questionnaire regarding their quantity and quality of food intake as well as gastroesophageal reflux (GER). Fifty-two patients received barium swallow, and 38 patients received gastroscopy and esophageal mucosal biopsy during follow-up. ResultsAll the 60 patients were successfully discharged. Average length of hospital stay was 12.0±2.6 days. Average time for anastomosis was 18.4±3.2 minutes. The incidence of anastomotic leak was 1.7% (1/60). During follow-up, all the 60 patients restored normal food intake, and 14 patients (23.3%)had GER symptoms. Barium swallow showed the average anastomotic diameter of 1.6±0.2 cm (range, 1.2 to 2.2 cm). In 45° trendelenburg position, 31 patients (59.6%)had barium GER, but none of the patients had prolonged barium retention, intrathoracic gastric dilation or disturbed gastric emptying. Gastroscopy of 38 patients showed full anastomotic opening in 24 patients (63.2%)and irregular or semiclosed anastomosis in the other 14 patients (36.8%). Mucosal biopsy under gastroscopy showed chronic inflammation in 18.4% (7/38)patients. ConclusionComplete mechanical cervical side-to-side esophago-gastric tube anastomosis can significantly prevent anastomotic stenosis, leak and intrathoracic stomach symptoms with good clinical outcomes.
ObjectiveTo investigate the influence of semi-mechanical and hand-sewn esophagogastric anastomoses on postoperative anastomostic complications in patients undergoing esophagectomy. MethodsA systematic, computer-aided literature search was performed in PubMed, OVID, CNKI and BioMed databases for studies which were published from database establishment to December 2013. A manual literature search was also performed. We included randomized controlled trials (RCT)and observational studies which investigated the influence of semi-mechanical and conventional hand-sewn esophagogastric anastomoses on postoperative anastomostic complications. Quality assessment and data extraction were performed, and RevMan 5.2 was used for meta-analysis. ResultsTwelve relevant studies with 1 271 patients were included (3 RCTs and 9 observational studies).No significant heterogeneity among the 12 trials was found, so fixed effects model was used for meta-analysis.There was statistical difference in the incidence of postoperative anastomotic leak between hand-sewn and semi-mechanical esophagogastric anastomoses[RCT RR=0.34, 95%CI (0.12, 0.97), P < 0.05;observational studies OR=0.40, 95%CI (0.26, 0.62), P < 0.05]. Postoperative incidence of anastomostic stricture was reported in all 12 studies. There was statistical difference in the incidence of postoperative anastomotic stricture between hand-sewn and semi-mechanical esophagogastric anastomoses[RCT RR=0.14, 95%CI (0.04, 0.47), P < 0.05;observational studies OR=0.22, 95%CI (0.15, 0.34), P < 0.000 1]. ConclusionsCompared with conventional hand-sewn anastomosis, semi-mechanical esophagogastric anastomosis can significantly reduce the incidence of postoperative anastomostic leak and stricture. Due to limited quantity and quality of included studies, more high-quality studies with larger sample size including RCT and non-randomized studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Objective To compare the safety of manual anastomosis and mechanical anastomosis after esophagectomy by meta-analysis. MethodsThe randomized controlled trials (RCTs) about manual anastomosis and mechanical anastomosis after esophagectomy were searched from PubMed, EMbase and The Cochrane Library from inception to January 2018 by computer, without language restrictions. Two authors according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria independently researched literature, extracted data, evaluated bias risk and used R software meta package for meta-analysis. Results Seventeen RCTs were enrolled, including 2 159 patients (1 230 by manual anastomosis and 1 289 by mechanical anastomosis). The results of meta-analysis showed that: (1) there was no significant difference in the incidence of anastomotic leakage between mechanical and manual anastomosis (RR=1.00, 95%CI 0.67–1.48, P=0.181); (2) no significant difference was found in the 30-day mortality (RR=0.95, 95%CI 0.61–1.49, P=0.631); (3) compared with manual anastomosis, the mechanical anastomosis group may increase the risk of anastomotic stenosis (RR=0.74, 95%CI 0.48-1.14, P<0.001). Conclusion Esophageal cancer surgery using a linear or circular stapler can increase the incidence of anastomotic stenosis after surgery. There is no significant difference in the anastomotic leakage and 30-day mortality between manual anastomosis, linear stapler and circular stapler.