Whole stomach with antro-pyloric nerve preservation as an esophageal substitute: an original technique.

The paper describes an original technique of gastric tailoring in which the two-thirds of the lesser curvature proximal to the crow's foot are denuded flush with the gastric wall, leaving both nerves of Latarjet and the hepatic branches of the left vagus nerve intact. Maintenance of the vagal supply to the antro-pyloric segment in two patients resulted in the presence of peristaltic contractions sweeping over the antrum on simple observation of the antral wall at the end of the procedure and on both upper G-I series and intragastric manometry tracings 6 weeks postoperatively. Gastric exposure to bile on 24-h gastric bile monitoring was normal 6 weeks after the operation. Neither patient had any gastrointestinal symptoms with the exception of early sensations of postprandial fullness when overeating.