Distal Gastrectomy (Open)
John T. Mullen, MD
Director, General Surgery Resident Program
Massachusetts General Hospital

An 80-year-old patient with anemia undergoes an upper endoscopy that reveals inflammation in the distal stomach. Biopsies identify it as an early intramucosal adenocarcinoma while an endoscopic ultrasound shows the tumor invading the muscle of the stomach. Given that there are no signs of metastasis, the patient presents for a potentially curative gastrectomy where Dr. John Mullen removes the distal two-thirds of the stomach, performs a D1 lymph node dissection and a partial D2 lymph node dissection, and reconstructs in a Billroth II fashion.