Laparoscopic gastrectomy with and without prophylactic drains in gastric cancer: a propensity score-matched analysis.

Background The number of patients who are undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy for treating gastric cancer is increasing. Although prophylactic drains have been widely employed following the procedure, there are few studies reporting the efficacy of prophylactic drainage. Therefore, this study assessed the efficacy of prophylactic drains following laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer.