Pharyngo-laryngo-oesophagectomy and gastric pull-up (PLOGP) is a complex and relatively uncommon procedure. The aim of this study is to analyse the results of PLOGP in patients with post-cricoid and cervical oesophageal squamous cell carcinomas.

This study was a retrospective review of 26 patients (11 males + 15 females, mean age 63.5 years) who underwent PLOGP from 1988 to 1997. Eighteen (69 per cent) patients were staged as T3 and eight (31 per cent) T4. Eighteen (69 per cent) patients had N0, seven (27 per cent) N1 and one (four per cent) N2 disease. Multiple primary tumours were recorded in three (11.5 per cent) patients. Four (15 per cent) patients had pre-operative radiotherapy with poor response and two (eight per cent) required emergency tracheotomy prior to surgery. Feeding jejunostomy was performed on 19 (73 per cent) and neck lymph node dissection in eight (31 per cent) patients.

The mean duration of surgery was five hours (range 3.5 to 7.5) with a mean blood loss of 840 ml (range 160 to 1800), a mean stay in ICU of 4.2 days and hospital stay ranged from nine to 84 days (mean 34). Three (11.5 per cent) patients died (pneumonia – one, congestive heart failure – one pulmonary embolus – one) in the early post-operative period. Eight (31 per cent) patients remain alive from 30 to 136 months (mean 58 months). Two (eight per cent) patients died with no evidence of disease. Thirteen (50 per cent) patients died of their disease between two to 51 months (mean 17.3 months) post-operatively. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for one year was 65 per cent, for three years 35 per cent and for five years 26 per cent (see Figure 1). Median survival in the whole series was 18 months.

Post-operative speech was with an electrolarynx in 16 (62 per cent). One patient (four per cent) used gastric speech and one patient (four per cent) used a Blom-Singer valve effectively. Five (19 per cent) patients had no speech post-operatively. All patients maintained oral feeding. Gastric transposition constitutes a safe and reliable method of restoring the continuity of the upper digestive tract following pharyngo-laryngo-oesophagectomy.