LAPAROSCOPY-ASSISTED DISTAL GASTRECTOMY FOR EARLY GASTRIC CANCER

• Published in: Nihon Rinsho Geka Gakkai Zasshi (Journal of Japan Surgical Association) Vol. 66; no. 12; pp. 2909 - 2914
• Main Authors: IIMORI, Shunsuke, INOUE, Hitoshi, KASHU, Yasuaki, OKADA, Kenzo, KIYOCHI, Hidenori, KAJIWARA, Shinsuke, IWAKAWA, Kazuhide, MATSUMOTO, Yasushi, SUGISHITA, Hiroki, SAKAO, Toshihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan Surgical Association 2005
• ISSN: 1345-2843; 1882-5133
• DOI: 10.3919/jjsa.66.2909

Clinical outcomes of 63 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscypy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for early gastric cancers in our institute were reviewed, and the feasibility of LADG was assessed. Furthermore, 49 LADG cases and 48 conventional open distal gastrectomy (ODG) cases, in which Dl+α lymph node dissection and B-I reconstruction were performed in the same period, were retrospectively compared. Regarding LADG patients, the operation time was prolonged with increase of patient's body mass index (BMI) value (p<0.01). BMI values of the cases with anastomoses leakage were significantly higher than those of the cases without leakage (p<0.05). In LADG patients, mean operation time was longer (p<0.01), but incidence of postoperative bowel obstruction was lower (p<0.01) compared with ODG patients. In the comparison of selected 25 LADG and 20 ODG cases, whose BMI values were within normal range and who had no incidence of postoperative complications, the time to the first flatus and the length of postoperative hospital stay were significantly shorter (p<0.05, p<0.05) in LADG cases. Although our LADG method had some problems for obese patients, it has several advantages. LADG had been suggested to be useful for improving the quality of postoperative course in the treatment of early gastric cancer.