Laparoscopically assisted resections of small bowel stromal tumors are safe and effective

To compare the efficacy of laparoscopically assisted and open resections in treatment of small bowel stromal tumors (SBST).

A retrospective study of 85 patients who underwent curative resections for SBST (38 by laparoscopically assisted procedures and 47 by open procedures) was performed.

There were no differences between open and laparoscopically assisted approaches in terms of patients' age, gender, presenting symptoms, histological risk or extent of resection (P > 0.05). The median tumor size for laparoscopically assisted resections was 4.0 cm (range 1.2-7.0 cm), which was the same as that for the open resections (range 2.0-10.0 cm). There were fewer complications in the laparoscopic group than those in the open resection group (7.9% vs 17.0%), but no significant difference was observed (P > 0.05). The 2-year survival of the two patient groups was almost the same (86.8% vs 89.4%). Laparoscopically assisted procedures required on average 22.5 min less of operating time (87.5 min vs 110.0 min, P = 0.006), 1.0 day less of bowel recovery time (3.0 days vs 4.0 days, P = 0.001) and 5.0 days less in hospital stay (8.0 days vs 13.0 days, P < 0.001).

Laparoscopically assisted resection of SBST is a safe alternative to open resection.