Incidence of anastomotic stricture after hepaticojejunostomy with continuous sutures in patients who underwent laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy

Laparoscopic hepatojejunostomy (HJ) with continuous sutures is commonly performed in laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD). This study aimed to investigate the long-term surgical outcomes of HJ in LPD. We retrospectively evaluated 103 consecutive patients who underwent pancreaticoduodenectomy via laparoscopic HJ with continuous suturing using multifilament (n = 48) or monofilament-absorbable sutures (n = 47). During follow-up, anastomotic stricture of HJ was identified in 8 (7.8%) patients via balloon enteroscopy-assisted cholangiography. The median time from surgery to confirmation of stricture formation was 7.6 months (range 3.6–19.4). The incidence of HJ stricture was significantly higher in patients with a thin bile duct (diameter