Mechanical triangular esophagogastrostomy: Technical aspects and initial results

Esophageal cancer represents the eighth neoplasm worldwide. The therapeutic approach is interdisciplinary, with surgery being the most effective option. Several techniques have been proposed to perform esophagogastrostomy after esophagectomy, among them mechanical triangular esophagogastrostomy (MT), with a little experience published in the Western literature on the latter. The objective of this study is to describe the technical aspects and initial results of MT anastomosis.

A retrospective review of the patients who underwent esophagectomy according to the McKeown technique was performed, those in which MT anastomosis was implemented, between October 2017 and March 2020 in our hospital.

14 patients were included, with a mean age of 63 years. The mean operative time was 436 min (360-581), being diagnosed of anastomotic leak (AL) 3 of the 14 patients (21.4%), as well as 3 patients presented anastomotic stenosis (AS). The median stay was 20 days, without any death in the series.

Multiple publications suggest the superiority in terms of AL and AS of the mechanical triangular anastomosis, which was also observed in our series, in which despite the small sample, a rapid improvement was observed in the indicators after the first cases. Therefore, this type of anastomosis may be a safe option for performing esophagogastric anastomosis after esophagectomy, being necessary more definitive conclusive studies.