OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of resection of combined visceral organs in surgical treatment of gastric cardiac carcinoma. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 217 random patients with carcinoma of the gastric cardia who underwent a gastric cardiac resection. The patients had been treated as follows: 186 with partial gastrectomy, 31 with total gastrectomy, 97 with a combined-visceral resection, of which 82 under went a splenectomy plus partial pancreatectomy, 10 with splenectomy alone and 5 with partial hepatectomy and diaphragmatectomy. RESULTS: The total patients were divided into 3 groups: 128 with a gastrectomy alone, 10 with gastrectomy and splenectomy, and 82 with gastrectomy and splenectomy plus pancreatectomy. The operating times for these 3 groups were respectively 3.0 h, 3.1 h and 3.8 h. The hospitalization times were respectively 23.8 d, 31.2 d and 25.9 d. No differences in post-operative complications were found between these 3 groups. There were 92 patients who underwent a gastrectomy combined with a splenectomy and (or) the pancreatectomy, in which 92 No.10 lymph nodes were eliminated, with an average of one in each patient. Among the 125 patients not receiving a splenectomy but with elimination of lymph nodes, 82 underwent a gastrectomy combined with partial pancreatectomy, of which 107 lymph nodes were eliminated for the No. 11 group, with an average of 1.3 in each patient. There was a statistically significant difference between the 2 groups. The overall survival rates were similar in the 3 groups showing no statistical differences, but was higher in the Stage Ⅲ patients with a combined resection of multiorgans. For patients in the Stage Ⅳ without resection of multi-organs, the survival rate was higher, but there was no significant difference between the 2 groups.CONCLUSION: It is difficult to determine precisely the involvement of para-tumorous organs with the eye during an operation. Combining a splenectomy with a pancreatectomy does not increase the post-operative complications following surgical treatment for carcinoma of the gastric cardia. The combination of a splenectomy and partial pancreatectomy results in a higher survival rate and has an important significance for eliminating the lymph nodes of group 10 and 11, especially for patients in Stage Ⅲ. In the application of a resection combining multi-organs, the doctor should make every effort to decrease the trauma and the complications based on the condition that the cancerous tissue is totally resected .