Huang CJ, et al. - The feasibility, safety, and oncological outcomes of laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) were evaluated. For gastric cancer, LTG proved to be a safe, reliable and minimally invasive procedure with short and long-term outcomes similar to those of laparoscopy distal gastrectomy (LDG).

Methods

• Between 2010 and 2016, a total of 290 consecutive patients underwent radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer, from which 110 were performed laparoscopically and included in the study.
• They investigated short and long-term outcomes of LTG, such as operative results, postoperative courses, morbidities, and mortality, and compared these outcomes with those of LDG patients.

Results

• Conversion was not observed in any of the patients who underwent LTG.
• Researchers noticed the mean operation time of 267 ± 88 min, the mean reconstruction time of 45.3 ± 15 min, and the mean intraoperative blood loss of 75.4 ± 20 ml.
• In this study, the time until the first flatus was 4 ± 1.5 days and the time to start soft diet was 7 ± 1.8 days.
• The length of postoperative hospital stay of 9 ± 2 days was noticed.
• The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes was 34.7 ± 9.
• Compared with the LDG group, the LTG group had significantly longer mean operation time, the mean reconstruction time, number of retrieved lymph nodes, and time of start soft diet (P < 0.05).
• The LTG group and LDG group had the postoperative complication rates of 10% and 8.3% (P > 0.05), respectively.
• The LTG group and LDG group had 3-year cumulative survival rates of 53.8% and 56.6% (P=0.21), respectively.