Does the addition of Braun anastomosis to Billroth II reconstruction on laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy benefit patients?

Table 1 General patient characteristics

Characteristic	Billroth 2	Billroth 2 + Braun	P value
Age (yr)	56.8 ± 9.9	57.2 ± 11.4	0.834
Sex			0.784
Male	41	56
Female	18	28
Pathological tumor stage			0.89
1	5	7
2	16	30
3	12	23
Operation time (min)	234.6 ± 47.7	262.0 ± 64.9	0.017
Blood loss (mL)	160.6 ± 130.9	136.2 ± 107.9	0.224
Anal exhaust time (d)	5.0 ± 2.0	3.8 ± 1.1	0.348

Table 2 Postoperative complications

Complication	Billroth 2	Billroth 2 + Braun	P value
Bile reflux	1	0	1
Anastomosis bleeding	0	1	1
Anastomotic fistula	2	3	1
Total	3	4	0.696

Table 3 Follow-up data

	Group 1	Group 2	P value
Reflux gastritis			0.109
No	11	29
Yes	22	31
Incidence	66.70%	51.70%
Multi-item functional scales
Physical function	97.6 ± 0.95	92.7 ± 1.40	0.107
Cognitive function	98.9 ± 1.01	95.8 ± 1.40	0.126
Emotional function	94.4 ± 1.98	93.6 ± 1.54	0.744
Role function	97.5 ± 1.64	96.4 ± 1.19	0.592
Social function	96.5 ± 1.58	94.2 ± 1.67	0.369
Total function	84.3 ± 3.81	83.1 ± 2.25	0.757
Symptom
Fatigue	1.85 ± 5.49	6.48 ± 9.21	0.1
Nausea/vomiting	2.78 ± 6.80	1.94 ± 4.70	0.695
Pain	0.01 ± 3.46	2.08 ± 4.76	0.258
Dyspnea	0.51 ± 2.90	1.39 ± 5.57	0.398
Appetite loss	1.52 ± 6.41	4.17 ± 10.00	0.173
Insomnia	3.03 ± 7.74	3.61 ± 9.75	0.769
Constipation	1.01 ± 5.80	3.06 ± 7.19	0.165
Diarrhea	4.55 ± 10.44	4.72 ± 10.22	0.937
Financial difficulty	2.02 ± 5.52	5.28 ± 11.68	0.135

Group 1: Billroth II reconstruction; Group 2: Billroth II reconstruction combined with Braun anastomosis.