Efficacy of single-layer continuous suture of the posterior wall in anastomosis involving a difficult location of the digestive tract.

Surgery for digestive tract disease predominantly consists of reconstruction and anastomosis. Due to the difficult location, anastomosis is extremely challenging and the risk of complication increases accordingly. Traditional manual anastomosis and the application of a stapling device are insufficient. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility and safety of a novel manual method in a difficult anastomotic location, consisting of a single-layer continuous suture in the posterior wall. In total, 15 beagle dogs were included in the study; eight underwent surgery with the novel manual method for reconstruction and anastomosis of the digestive tract, while seven underwent surgery with the stapler device as a control. The subsequent postoperative complications were observed and, three months later, the anastomotic ports were excised, and the pathological formation and morphological changes were evaluated. No statistically significant differences were identified between the total (50.0 vs. 57.1%; P=0.782) and anastomotic (0.0 vs. 28.6%; P=0.200) complication rates in the manual suture and staple suture groups, respectively. Compared with the control group, the operative expenditure was lower in the manual group (1726.7 +/- 33.5 vs. 2135.7 +/- 43.1 renminbi; P=0.001), the diameter of the anastomotic port was larger,the manual group (3.04 +/- 0.07 vs. 2.24 +/- 0.25 cm; P=0.004) and the thickness of the anastomotic port (in cm) was thinner in the manual group (2.94 +/- 0.06 vs. 5.07 +/- 0.85; P=0.002). Furthermore, the pathological formation of the anastomositic port in the manual group was improved. The results of the current study suggest single-layer continuous suture of the posterior wall in anastomosis of the digestive tract to be a novel method with feasibility and safety, particularly in difficult anastomotic locations.