Similar hematologic and nutritional outcomes after proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction in comparison to total gastrectomy for early upper gastric cancer

Background: Proximal gastrectomy offers theoretical benefits over total gastrectomy in terms of hematologic and nutritional outcomes. However, little evidence confirming these benefits has been reported. The aim of this study was to assess the hematologic and nutritional outcomes of proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction in comparison to those of total gastrectomy. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data from 80 patients with stage I gastric cancer who underwent proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction (n = 38) or total gastrectomy (n = 42) from September 2014 to December 2015. We compared hematologic (including hemoglobin, ferritin, vitamin B ₁₂ , etc.) and nutritional outcomes [including body mass index (BMI), serum total protein, albumin, total cholesterol, and total lymphocyte count] between the two groups. Results: We found no significant differences in changes in hemoglobin (P = 0.250) or cumulative incidence of iron deficiency anemia (P = 0.971) during a median follow-up period of 24 months (range 18–30 months) after surgery. Cumulative incidence of vitamin B ₁₂ deficiency also did not differ significantly between the proximal and total gastrectomy groups (P = 0.087). BMI changes from baseline were not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.591). Likewise, there were no statistically significant differences in nutritional outcomes. Conclusions: Proximal gastrectomy with double-tract reconstruction exhibited similar outcomes in terms of hematologic and nutritional features in comparison to total gastrectomy.