Coniform gastric tube for end-to-end anastomosis during minimally invasive McKeown esophagectomy

Abstract For McKeown esophagectomy, gastric tube is widely used for constructing esophagogastrotomy. Traditionally, the gastric fundus is preserved for gastric tube formation in order to provide adequate length of the gastric conduit for neck anastomosis. However, gastric stump necrosis, anastomotic leakage, and postoperative gastric tube dilatation are the common postoperative complications for McKeown esophagectomy using traditional gastric tube. Here, we reported a novel coniform gastric tube shaping technique to maximally avoid conduit dilatation after the McKeown esophagectomy without nasogastric tube placement, while simultaneously maintain a tension-free and well-perfused anastomosis.