Impact of obesity on laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer / 中华胃肠外科杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To study the impact of obesity on the short-term outcomes after laparoscopic-assisted radical gastrectomy.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>A total of 531 gastric cancer patients underwent radical resection at the Fujian Medical University Union Hospital between May 2007 and June 2010. There were 83 patients with BMI ≥ 25 kg/m(2) (obese group) and 448 patients with BMI<25 kg/m(2) (non-obese group). Intraoperative and postoperative parameters, and short-term survival rates between the two groups were compared.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>There was no significant difference between obese and non-obese patients in terms of conversion rate (2.4% vs. 1.8%, P>0.05). The operative time in obese group was (224.7 ± 57.3) min, which was significantly longer than that in non-obese group [(210.0 ± 57.9) min, P<0.05]. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between obese and non-obese groups in terms of blood loss, blood transfusion rate, elevated leukocyte and granulocyte count on the first postoperative day, time to temperature recovery, first flatus, and postoperative hospital stays(P>0.05). The mean number of retrieved lymph nodes in obese group was (24.8 ± 8.4), and was significantly less than that of non-obese group[(29.9 ± 10.2), P<0.05]. There were no significant differences between obese and non-obese groups in postoperative complication rate (16.8% vs. 10.2%, P>0.05), postoperative mortality(1.2% vs. 0.4%, P>0.05), and 3-year overall survival (68.8% vs. 74.0%, P>0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Obesity is associated with prolonged operative time for laparoscopic radical gastrectomy. However, the short-term outcomes after the laparoscopic radical gastrectomy is not influenced by obesity.</p>