Assessment of graft perfusion and oxygenation for improved outcome in esophageal cancer surgery: Protocol for a single-center prospective observational study.

Introduction: The main cause of anastomotic leakage (AL) is tissue hypoxia, which results from impaired perfusion of the pedicle stomach graft after esophageal reconstruction. Clinical judgment is unreliable in determining graft perfusion. Therefore, an objective, validated, and reproducible method is urgently needed.