Reconstruction after LATG: technical tips and pitfalls

Since the launching of laparoscopic radical gastrectomy in 1990s, the technique of laparoscopy has become more mature, and it has gradually been applied from distal gastrectomy to total gastrectomy. Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy is an accepted option for gastric cancer surgery; however, laparoscopic total gastrectomy is not widely performed, because of the difficulty of reconstruction of the digestive tract. Efforts have been made to establish an intracorporeal anatomic technique for esophagojejunostomy. There have been several techniques for esophagojejunostomy reported using either circular or lineal staplers. This article is to introduce these techniques and try to analysis the technical tips and pitfalls of them.