The effect of anchoring suture on the anastomotic blood flow in a rat model of human esophagojejunostomy.

Purpose: An impairment of anastomotic blood flow (ABF) and the resulting hypoxia readily lead to the complications such as leakage and stricture. We performed an animal study to evaluate the effect of anchoring suture for minimizing the impairment of ABF caused by tensile loading.

Materials And Methods: An end-to-side jejunojejunostomy was done in 20 rats, and this followed the modeling of a human end-to-side esophagojejunostomy. Laser Doppler flowmetry was checked in three different tensile conditions to evaluate the influence of anchoring suture on the ABF.

Results: Before anchoring suture, the mean ABF was 129.06 perfusion unit (PU), 96.99 PU, and 69.04 PU, in the order of tensile stress. After anchoring suture, the mean ABF was 121.68, 103.30, and 87.06 PU (P < 0.01).

Conclusion: Anchoring suture is a novel method to reduce the impairment of the anastomotic blood flow that is caused by tension.