Effect of hospital volume on long-term outcomes of laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND: This study aimed to examine the effect of hospital volume on long-term outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 420 patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy at our university hospital (high-volume group) and affiliated hospitals (low-volume group) were included in this study. Overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were analyzed. RESULTS: No significant differences were observed in the number of lymph nodes retrieved (29.9 vs. 27.7, p=0.21) and CSS between the high- and low-volume groups (p=0.92), although the OS rate in the low-volume group was significantly less than that in the high-volume group (p=0.045). CONCLUSION: These results indicate no clinical impact of hospital volume on prognosis of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer when performed by surgeons with sufficient experience in open gastrectomy.