Short-term outcomes of laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for advanced gastric neoplasms: A single center experience

Introduction/Objective The objective was to assess the effectiveness of laparoscopic gastrectomy, analyzing short-term outcomes of laparoscopic radical gastrectomy in treatment of advanced gastric neoplasms. Methods We performed a prospective cohort observational study, which included 30 patients who underwent elective radical laparoscopic gastrectomy (total or subtotal) for stomach neoplasms, performed in the period between March 2013 and February 2017. Results Thirteen patients (43%) had been diagnosed with distal gastric tumors, seven (23%) with proximal gastric tumors, four (13%) with pangastric tumors, four (13%) with mediogastric tumors, and two (7%) with bicentric tumors. Mean operation duration was 286 minutes. The average blood loss was 183 mL. Conversion rate was 10% (three patients). Total of seven (23%) patients had postoperative complications, and mean intensive care unit stay was 1 day. Mean hospital stay after surgery was 13.08 days. The average number of harvested lymph nodes was 33.9, and R0 resection was performed in 87% patients. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 0%. Conclusion Although technically challenging, laparoscopic gastrectomy is a safe and oncologically adequate procedure in the radical surgical treatment of advanced gastric neoplasms.