Reconstruction of esophagojejunostomy by robot-sewing technique in totally robotic total gastrectomy                          JIANG Zhi-wei, ZHAO Kun, WANG Gang, et al. Research Institute of General Surgery, Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command, Nanjing 210002, China
Corresponding author: JIANG Zhi-wei, E-mail: surgery34@163.com
Abstract    Objective    To analyze the feasibility of reconstruction of esophagojejunostomy by robot-sewing technique in totally robotic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Methods    The clinical data of 20 cases of gastric cancer performed da Vinci robotic total gastrectomy including robot-sewn esophagojejunal Roux-en-Y anastomosis between May 2011 and November 2011 at Nanjing General Hospital of Nanjing Military Command were analyzed retrospectively. Results All robotic surgeries were accomplished in 20 cases successfully. Among them, 13 cases were men and 7 were women; the mean age (±SD) was (57.8±6.5) years. The mean (±SD) operation time was (245.5±53.0) mins with a mean (±SD) blood loss of (75.5±50.3) mL. There was neither intraoperative complication nor postoperative complication such as stoma leakage, bleeding, abdominal cavity infection and so on in all cases. Only one case was readmitted for complication of afferent loop intestinal obstruction and received reoperation. The mean (±SD) postoperative hospital stay was (6.4±2.5) days. Conclusion    A robot-sewn anastomosis for esophagojejunostomy reconstruction in robotic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer is simple, safe and feasible. It may be a standard surgical technique for totally robotic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer.