The effects of laparoscopic assisted total gastrectomy on surgical outcomes in the treatment of gastric cancer.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness of laparoscopic assisted total gastrectomy (LATG), we compared its early surgical outcomes with those of conventional open total gastrectomy (OTG) in patients who were diagnosed as having early gastric cancer preoperatively. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed early surgical outcomes in 190 consecutive patients who underwent total gastrectomy for early gastric cancer between January 2009 to April 2010. The patients were divided into those who underwent LATG and those who underwent OTG. Their early surgical outcomes were analyzed to evaluate the effectiveness of LATG. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in postoperative complication rates (P = 0.291). But in the analysis of other early surgical outcomes, we found that LATG could improve time to first flatus (P < 0.001), time to commencement of soft diet (P = 0.034), administration of analgesics (P = 0.024), pain score (Numeric Rating Scale), and hospital discharge (P = 0.045). CONCLUSION: Although LATG didn't show better results for postoperative complications than those of OTG, LATG contributes to the improvement of early surgical outcomes, including bowel movement, pain score and hospital discharge. Therefore, we suggest that LATG could be a method to improve early surgical outcomes in patients who need total gastrectomy.

Influence of obesity on early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy in gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of obesity on surgical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer. STUDY DESIGN: Between January 2005 and January 2010, 1100 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer were reviewed to evaluate the impact of obesity. The patients were classified into 3 groups according to the World Health Organization classification, as normal weight [body mass index (BMI) 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m], overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m), and obese patients (BMI ≥30 kg/m). RESULTS: The postoperative complication rates for normal weight, overweight, and obese patients were 5.7%, 10.0%, 15.4%, respectively. Overweight and obese patients had a significantly prolonged operation time, increased intraoperative blood loss, prolonged first flatus, day of commencement of soft diet, increased number of administration of analgesics, and prolonged hospital stay. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight and obesity were associated with poor early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy. This study suggested that greater cautions and improved surgical techniques were required to improve early surgical outcomes of laparoscopic-assisted gastrectomy for overweight and obese patients.

A practical way to overcome the learning period of laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: Although laparoscopic gastrectomy is widely performed in patients with gastric cancer, it requires a learning period for surgeons. Few methods are known to reduce or overcome this learning period. We tested a method to reduce or overcome this learning period in the beginner surgeon. METHODS: Between April 2009 and March 2010, a total of 139 patients underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy by a beginner surgeon. During their training period of 6 months, the beginner had been the first assistant during 200 laparoscopic gastrectomies. To evaluate surgical outcomes as the surgeon started to perform laparoscopic gastrectomy, outcomes were assessed in 79 patients who underwent laparoscopic-assisted distal gastrectomy with extracorporeal gastroduodenostomy (LADG); the first 30 were performed by the surgeon and 49 were performed subsequently. Outcomes of LADG and totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with intracorporeal gastroduodenostomy (TLDG) were compared to evaluate the beginner's ability to adapt to intracorporeal reconstruction. The learning period was assessed by dividing patients who underwent LADG and TLDG into sequential groups of five each by time. RESULTS: No patient was converted to open surgery and none died. There were no significant differences between the first 30 patients and the next 49 who underwent LADG in surgical outcomes. The only significantly different outcome between LADG and TLDG was in operation time (95.9 min vs. 115.6 min, P < 0.001). There were no significant differences in mean operation times of sequential groups (LADG, P = 0.069; TLDG, P = 0.212). CONCLUSIONS: The beginning surgeon examined in this work obtained satisfactory surgical outcomes during the early period of performing laparoscopic gastrectomy. We speculate that participation in laparoscopic gastrectomy team of experts improved the beginner's surgical outcomes, suggesting that such participation may reduce or overcome the learning period of beginners.

A totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy can be an effective way of performing laparoscopic gastrectomy in obese patients (body mass index≥30).

BACKGROUND: In the surgical treatment of gastric cancer, obesity is known to be a predictive factor for poor early surgical outcomes. To evaluate the more effective modality of laparoscopic gastrectomy in obese patients, we compared the early surgical outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted and totally laparoscopic gastrectomy. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed early surgical outcomes in 1,480 consecutive patients who underwent distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer between April 2004 and July 2010. To compare surgical outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with those of totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (TLDG) in 76 obese patients (LADG, n = 39; TLDG, n=37), the patients were classified as either obese or nonobese. The obesity was defined using the WHO classification BMI cutoff of 30 kg/m2. RESULTS: In the analysis of surgical outcomes of the LADG group, there were significant differences between the obese and nonobese groups with respect to operative time (P=0.004, obese, 171.8 min; nonobese, 141.0 min), time to first flatus (P=0.027, obese, 3.3 days; nonobese, 3.1 days), commencement of soft diet (P=0.040, obese, 4.6 days; nonobese, 4.0 days), postoperative complication rate (P=0.045, obese, 15.4%; nonobese, 6.5%), and postoperative hospital stay (P=0.014, obese, 8.9 days; nonobese, 7.2 days). In TLDG group, on the other hand, there were no significant differences in surgical outcomes between the groups. CONCLUSION: Based on these findings, early surgical outcomes of LADG were strongly influenced by the obesity. TLDG without minilaparotomy, however, was unaffected by the obesity. These findings strongly suggest that TLDG could be a safe procedure to avoid the impact of obesity.

A totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy (TLDG) for improvement of the early surgical outcomes in high BMI patients.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy (TLDG), we compared its early surgical outcomes with those of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy (LADG). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed early surgical outcomes in 567 patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer between January 2009 and March 2010. The patients were divided into those with underwent TLDG and those with underwent LADG. Their surgical outcomes were analyzed according to the WHO Asia-Pacific Obesity classification. RESULTS: In overall patients, TLDG showed the significant results of early surgical outcomes. But more importantly, in the analysis of early surgical outcomes for obese patients, we found that TLDG could improve overall complication rate (p = 0.031), time to first flatus (p = 0.009), time to commencement of soft diet (p < 0.001), administration of analgesics (p = 0.019), pain score (Numeric Rating Scale, NRS), and hospital discharge (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: We suggested that TLDG contributes to the improvement of early surgical outcomes. We further suggest that TLDG in obese patients could be the best way to improve early surgical outcomes, including the bowel movement, pain score, overall complication rate, and hospital discharge.