The mode of Roux-en-Y reconstruction affects motility in the efferent limb.

Objectives: To compare motility of a Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy after total gastrectomy with normal jejunal motility and to determine the effect on motility of the incorporation of a pouch in the reconstruction.

Design: Jejunal motility in normal subjects was compared with jejunal motility in the Roux-en-Y reconstruction with and without a Hunt-Lawrence pouch.

Setting: The case were collected during a 4-year period at a university hospital. The mean time from resection to study was 14 months (range, 4 to 49 months).

Patients: Seven control patients were compared with 10 patients with a Roux-en-Y reconstruction and 17 with a Roux-en-Y and Hunt-Lawrence pouch.

Outcome Measure: The fasting-state motility of the jejunum used for reconstruction was measured by a water-perfused manometric system for 2 to 4 hours with the subject in the supine position.

Results: Compared with normal subjects, patients with a Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy without a pouch had an increased number of phases of the interdigestive motor complex per hour (P < .05). The phases were of shorter duration with a random sequence and increased total time spent in the quiescent phase 1 (P < .05). In patients with a pouch, no differences were detected between the motility in the pouch and the efferent limb. Compared with those without a pouch, there were significantly fewer orthograde interdigestive motor complex phase 3 fronts and more total time spent in phase 1 (P < .05).

Conclusions: Construction of a gastric substitute from jejunum leads to substantial motility changes. The addition of a pouch decreases the overall activity, which may contribute to the storage function of the pouch.