To compare the safety of Billroth I and Billroth II reconstruction in distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer and short-term endoscopic findings.

A retrospective cohort study was carried out. Clinical data of gastric adenocarcinoma patients who received distal subtotal gastrectomy with Billroth I or Billroth II reconstruction at Department 4 of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Peking University Cancer Hospital from January 2013 to July 2017 were collected retrospectively. Patients with stage IV gastric cancer, emergent operation, preoperative chemotherapy, combined organ resection and other malignancies were excluded. A total of 277 patients were enrolled in the study with 143 patients in the Billroth I group and 134 patients in the Billroth II group. The intra-operative conditions, postoperative early recovery, postoperative complications, and postoperative 1-year endoscopic findings were compared between the two groups. The normal distribution variables were analyzed by t test; the non-normal distribution variables were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test; sort variables were compared between groups using the χ² test or Fisher's exact test.

In the Billroth I group, 93 (65.0%) cases were male, mean age was (58.1±10.9) years and body mass index was (23.3±3.2) kg/m². In the Billroth II group, 94 (70.1%) cases were male, mean age was (58.3±9.5) years and body mass index was (23.7±2.9) kg/m². There were no significant differences in baseline data between in the two groups (all P>0.05). As compared to the Billroth I group, the Billroth II group had significantly longer operation time [mean (230.7±44.6) minutes vs. (210.3±41.4) minutes, t=3.935, P<0.001], significantly shorter time to first diet (median 7.0 vs. 8.0 days, Z=3.376, P=0.001), to first abdominal drainage tube removing (median 8.0 vs. 8.0 days, Z=2.176, P=0.030) and significantly shorter postoperative hospital stay (median 9.0 vs. 10.0 days, Z=3.616, P<0.001). There were no significant differences between two groups in proportion of laparoscopic surgery, intra-operative blood loss, number of harvested lymph nodes and the first flatus time (all P>0.05). In the Billroth I group, 1 case developed anastomotic bleeding, 3 cases anastomotic leakage, 4 cases emptying disorder, 4 cases peritoneal cavity infection, and all of them healed after conservative treatment. In the Billroth II group, 1 case developed anastomotic bleeding, 1 case peritoneal cavity bleeding, 3 cases emptying disorder, 3 cases peritoneal cavity infection, and all of them healed after conservative treatment, while 1 case developed postoperative duodenal stump leakage and underwent a second operation. Morbidity of postoperative complication was 8.4% (12/143) and 6.7% (9/134) in the Billroth I group and Billroth II group respectively (χ²=0.277, P=0.599) without statistically significant difference. Postoperative one-year endoscopy was performed in 78 cases of the Billroth I group and 57 cases of the Billroth II group. Endoscopic findings revealed that ratio of food retention [21.8% (17/78) vs. 33.3% (19/57), χ²= 2.242, P=0.134], ratio of residual gastritis [48.7% (38/78) vs. 47.4% (27/57), χ²=0.024, P=0.877] and incidence of bile reflux [12.8% (10/78) vs. 10.5% (6/57), χ²=0.166, P=0.684] were not significantly different between two groups.

For distal gastrectomy, Billroth I reconstruction is easier to operate, while Billroth II reconstruction presents faster recovery of gastrointestinal function and shorter hospital stay. The morbidity of postoperative complication and short-term endoscopic findings between two groups are comparable.

Gastric neoplasms; Distal gastrectomy; Reconstruction; Billroth I; Billroth II; Complication