Feasibility of pylorus-preserving gastrectomy with a wider scope of lymphadenectomy.

Objective: To demonstrate the feasibility and safety of pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG) accompanied by complete suprapyloric and infrapyloric lymph node dissection.

Design: Retrospective review.

Setting: A university hospital in Japan.

Patients: Fifteen patients underwent PPG, and 28 patients underwent conventional distal gastrectomy (CDG) with Billroth I anastomosis. All patients had early gastric cancer, with either limited invasion in the mucosal layer or invasion into the submucosal layer.

Interventions: In the PPG procedure, the distal part of the stomach was resected while retaining a 1.5-cm pyloric cuff. The right gastroepiploic artery, the right gastric artery, and hepatic and pyloric branches of the vagus nerve were divided, and the infrapyloric artery was preserved. A modified D1 or D2 lymphadenectomy accompanied the PPG.

Main Outcome Measures: Patients undergoing the PPG and CDG procedures were assessed 1 year after their surgical procedure. Changes in body weight, serum total protein levels, and serum albumin levels, the incidence of dumping syndromes, and endoscopic findings in the gastric remnant were compared between the 2 groups.

Results: Weight loss was significantly less in the PPG group than in the CDG group (P=.02). The incidences of early dumping syndromes, especially vasomotor symptoms, were significantly lower in the PPG group than in the CDG group (P=.03 and P=.02, respectively). The pyloric sphincter function was preserved, and there was no anastomotic leakage in the PPG group.

Conclusions: The PPG procedure with complete D2 lymphadenectomy can be performed safely with a low incidence of major complications and a better postoperative outcome than the CDG procedure. The PPG procedure can be recommended for the treatment of early gastric cancer with broader indications.