BACKGROUND: The objective of this study is to determine the beneficial of palliative esophageal bypass with isoperistaltic gastric tube in patients with unresectable esophagus carcinoma. METHODS: We studied 53 patients with unresectable squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus as showed by endoscopic, radiologic and clinical data. Most of the patients were male and the average age was 56,8 years. The operation performed was an isoperistaltic gastric tube transposed through the retrosternal space. RESULTS: Twenty-eight patients (52%) developed one or more complications and the most frequent ones were leakage or stenosis of cervical anastomosis (15 patients 28,3%). Mortality rate was 9,4%. Of the 48 patients that survived, 37 (77%) refered relief of disphagia in the follow-up. The mean survival rate of 23 patients was 7,5 months (six to 13 months) and 14 patients are doing well after two to 16 months of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Isoperistaltic gastric tube has acceptable morbidity and mortality with relief of dysphagia in the majority of the patients.
Esophagus; Esophageal neoplasms; Palliative care