Pathophysiological Studies on the Relationship between Postgastrectomy Syndrome and Gastric Emptying Function at 5 Years after Pylorus-preserving Distal Gastrectomy for Early Gastric Cancer

Pylorus-preserving distal gastrectomy (PPG) has frequently been performed on patients with early gastric cancer in Japan to prevent the postgastrectomy syndrome seen after conventional distal gastrectomy (CDG). The long-term postoperative quality of life (QOL) and gastric emptying function in patients after PPG has not been assessed in detail. To clarify the usefulness of PPG for treating early gastric cancer we investigated the relation between postgastrectomy syndrome and gastric emptying function 5 years after PPG and then compared the results with those 5 years after CDG. Altogether, 32 patients who underwent curative gastrectomy at our clinic for early gastric cancer (submucosal cancer without lymph node metastasis) were studied. Ten subjects who underwent PPG with D2 lymphadenectomy without preserving the hepatic and pyloric branches of the vagal nerve [group A: eight men, two women; age 33–70 years (mean 60.7 years)] were interviewed and asked about appetite, weight loss, epigastric fullness, reflux esophagitis, and early dumping syndrome. They were compared with patients after CDG [group B: 36–72 years (mean 63.6 years)]. Esophagogastric endoscopy, abdominal ultrasonography, and gastric emptying function were also studied. The gastric emptying time of a semisolid diet was measured with a radioisotope method using ^99mTc-labeled rice gruel; the gastric emptying time of a liquid diet was measured with the acetaminophen method using orange juice. The control subjects (group C) consisted of 18 healthy volunteers (10 men, 8 women) without gastrointestinal symptoms aged 38 to 68 years (mean 60.8 years). The following results were obtained: PPG (group A) alleviated postoperative gastrointestinal symptoms such as appetite loss, reflux esophagitis, early dumping syndrome, lost body weight, endoscopic reflux esophagitis, endoscopic gastritis in the remnant stomach, and postogastrectomy cholecystolithiasis better than did CDG (group B). The only weak point with the PPG procedure was that it produced a feeling of epigastric fullness. The pattern of the gastric emptying curve for the semisolid diet was almost the same among groups A, B, and C, although delayed gastric emptying was clearly more frequent in group A than in group B or C (p < 0.05). Gastric emptying with the liquid diet in group B was significantly faster than that in groups A and C (p < 0.01). Gastric emptying in groups A and C was similar. These results showed that PPG improved the postoperative QOL, but the delayed emptying of semisolid diet after PPG led to a feeling of epigastric fullness after meals due to retention of contents in the residual stomach. Epigastric fullness after meals continued in many patients after PPG. Thus the only disadvantage of the PPG procedure is the sensation of epigastric fullness and gastric stasis due to delayed gastric emptying of a semisolid diet.