ABSTRACT
Objectives To compare total laparoscopic gastrectomy with intracorporeal hand-sewn Gl reconstruction and laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer. Methods Between July 2009 and July 2010, 21 patients of gastric cancer underwent total laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy with intracorporeal hand-sewn reconstruction and 28 did laparoscopy-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy in Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases. All patients were operated on by an experienced surgeon. Patient demographics, TNM stage, location of tumor, the intraoperative and postoperative details of the two groups were compared. Results In the 21 patients undergoing total laparoscopic gastrectomy, there were 15 of distal gastrectomy and 6 of total gastrectomy, compared with 21 and 7 in laparoscopy-assisted group. In total laparoscopic group, intracorporeal hand-sewn technique was used for gastro-jejunal and jejuno-jejunal (J-J)anastomosis, and 25 mm circular stapler was used for esophago-jejunal anastomosis. The operation time was significant longer in total laparoscopic group than in laparoscopy-assisted group of (279 ± 65 ) min vs.(232 ±40) min (P ＜ 0.05 ). No significant difference was observed between the two groups in proximal margin [(5.7 ± 1.5 )cm vs. (5.1 ± 1.4) cm, P ＞ 0.05] and distal margin [( 3.1 ± 0.9 )cm vs. ( 2.9 ±0.9) cm,P ＞0.05]. The iv narcotic use in laparoscopy-assisted group was 1.8 d but it was not used in total laparoscopic group. The first passing flatus was on day 3 in total laparoscopic group compared with 4.8 d in laparoscopy-assisted group. Both groups had 2 postoperative early complications, one intra-abdominal infection and one lung infection in total laparoscopic group compared with one wound infection and one lung infection in laparoscopy-assisted group. There was no anastomosis-related complications after 4 months of follow-up. Conclusions The operation time and postoperative early complication was acceptable for selected patients treated by total laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy with intracorporeal hand-sewn GI tract reconstruction in hands of experienced laparoscopic surgeon.