Preoperative imaging of surrounding arteries by three-dimensional CT: is it useful for laparoscopic gastrectomy?

One of the difficulties in laparoscopic gastrectomy is the identification of the feeding artery of the stomach. Recently, 3-dimensional computed tomographic angiography has enabled the noninvasive visualization of arteries surrounding the stomach. Preoperative 3-dimensional computed tomographic angiography may facilitate laparoscopic gastrectomy by obtaining a road map of the arteries of the stomach. Twenty-nine cases of gastric cancer were evaluated using 3-dimensional computed tomographic angiography before surgery. Three-dimensional computed tomographic angiography showed the left gastric artery in 29 patients (100%), the right gastroepiploic artery in 29 patients (100%), the right gastric artery in 24 patients (82.8%), and the left gastroepiploic artery in 21 patients (72.4%). The aberrant hepatic artery was detected in 6 patients, and the variant of the right gastric artery and the variant of the left gastric artery were detected in 5 cases and 1 case, respectively. All laparoscopic gastrectomy procedures were performed successfully without conversion to open surgery. Preoperative 3-dimensional computed tomographic angiography was considered to be useful for laparoscopic gastrectomy.