Results of reconstruction with jejunal pouch after gastrectomy: correlation with gastrointestinal motor activity.

BACKGROUND/AIMS To investigate if restoration of esophago-intestinal or esophago-gastric continuity with a jejunal pouch after total or proximal gastrectomy has clinical benefits. METHODS We reviewed all relevant reports published after 1990 that dealt with the clinical results of reconstruction with a jejunal pouch after total and proximal gastrectomies and correlated those findings with results for gastrointestinal motility. Reports were chosen from a search of the literature using PubMed. RESULTS After total gastrectomy, the benefit of a jejunal J pouch interposition was not apparent compared to simple jejunal interposition; indeed, one trial concluded that simple interposition was better than pouch interposition in terms of food intake. In contrast, results with a jejunal J pouch during Roux-en-Y (RY) type reconstruction were better than with conventional RY reconstruction in terms of food intake, nutritional status, body weight (BW) and symptoms. Advantages were also shown for a jejunal pouch with an inverted U shape interposed between the esophagus and residual stomach after proximal gastrectomy. Reconstruction using a jejunal pouch after proximal gastrectomy was better than esophagogastrostomy or simple jejunal interposition in terms of food intake, BW and symptoms. There were not enough data to conclude any benefits of a jejunal J pouch between the gastric remnant and the duodenum after distal gastrectomy. CONCLUSIONS Clinical results of restoration of intestinal continuity with a jejunal pouch after total and proximal gastrectomies may be attributed, at least in part, to the relationship between the motor activity of the gastric remnant, duodenum and jejunal pouch.