[Palliative total gastrectomy]

Gastric cancer, because of lymphonodulary and local extension, often allows only palliative surgery. This study tries to present the total gastrectomy as an alternative meant to improve the life of the patients who cannot hope to radical cure. Thirty-one patients were submitted to this operation during the last five years. The main indication for surgery was cancer extended to the gastric corpus, mainly on the posterior aspects and almost reaching the cardia. Because of lymphonodulary invasion over N2, hepatic and pancreatic and colonic invasion over N2, hepatic and pancreatic and colonic invasion and because of the metastases, the resections were palliative. The operations consisted of total gastrectomy and omentectomy, without trying to reach lymphatic stations over NI. All cases presented evidence of restant cancerous tissue involving the pancreas, the liver or the other lymphatic stations, but the main purpose was the ablation of the gastric tumor. Postoperatively we recorded 3 deaths, 9 anastomotic fistulae and an average survival of 9 months (6-13 months).