Minimizing cervical esophageal anastomotic complications by a modified technique

The anastomotic leak and stricture formation after esophagectomy and cervical esophagogastric anastomosis deny patients with esophageal carcinoma the benefits of surgery. The present study was designed to ascertain whether a wide cross-sectional area at the site of anastomosis leads to lesser anastomotic complications.

One hundred patients with resectable carcinoma of the esophagus were randomly distributed into two groups of 50 each. All patients underwent one-stage transhiatal esophagectomy. In group A, 3 x 2 cm gastric crescent was excised from the anterior wall of the gastric tube before constructing the cervical esophagogastric anastomosis. No such intervention was done in group B, which acted as control. All patients were followed up for at least 3 months for detection of anastomotic complications.

The incidence of anastomotic leak in the study group was significantly less in comparison with the control group (4.3% versus 20.8%; P = 0.03). Similarly, anastomotic stricture formation was significantly lower in the study group (8.5% versus 29.2%; P = 0.02).

A wide cross-sectional area achieved at the anastomotic site by removal of gastric crescent resulted in significantly lower anastomotic complications.