Modified (Bai-Jiang style) vagus nerve-preserving versus conventional laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection: a randomized clinical trial

Digestive system complications are among the most important causes of postoperative poor quality of life after open and conventional laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection (CLSD). We firstly developed a modified vagus nerve-preserving laparoscopic splenectomy and azygoportal disconnection (MVLSD). In this study, we aimed to evaluate whether MVLSD is feasible and safe and to determine whether MVLSD can effectively eliminate postoperative digestive system complications, in comparison with CLSD. In this randomized controlled single-center study, 60 patients with cirrhosis were randomly assigned to undergo either CLSD (n = 30) or MVLSD (n = 30) between April and December 2018. The primary outcome was delayed gastric emptying (DGE). Endoscopic physicians were blinded to group assignments. One patient who received MVLSD withdrew from the study. There were no significant differences in intraoperative blood loss, incidence of blood transfusion, time to off-bed activity, time to first flatus, and postoperative hospital stay between the two groups. Compared with CLSD, operation time and incidences of DGE, diarrhea, epigastric fullness, and overall postoperative complications were all significantly reduced in the MVLSD group (all P