Reconstruction of the digestive tract after total gastrectomy. A comparison of Roux anastomosis with Nakayama's beta-anastomosis]

Digestive tract reconstruction following total gastrectomy can be classified into two types according to whether the duodenal tract is excluded or preserved. Two groups of patients who underwent digestive tract reconstruction excluding the duodenal tract following total gastrectomy due to cancer were compared retrospectively: Nakayama's anastomosis was used in 20 patients (57%), and a Roux-en-Y anastomosis was performed in 15 (43%). The main technical difference between the two groups consists in the distance between esophagojejunostomy and jejunojejuno anastomosis: 20 cm in the case of Nakayama's technique and 50 cm in the case of the Roux-en-Y reconstruction. Results showed that 40% of patients with Roux-en-Y anastomoses were asymptomatic compared to 60% of patients with Nakayama's beta-anastomosis (chi-square test, p = 0.36). The most frequent symptom in patients with Roux-en-Y reconstructions was a feeling of postprandial fullness (33%), whereas pyrosis (25%) was the most common compliant in patients with Nakayama's reconstruction. Endoscopy revealed the presence of esophagitis in 35% of patients with Nakayam's beta-anastomosis compared to 6.5% in patients with Roux-en-Y anastomosis (chi-square test, p = 0.012). Results confirm that a minimum distance of at least 50 cm between the esophagojejunal and jejunojejunal anastomoses is decisive in reducing the frequency of reflux esophagitis after total gastrectomy.