[Comparative study on clinical efficacy of robot-assisted and laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer]

To compare the clinical efficacy of robot-assisted procedure with laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer.

The clinical data of patients who underwent gastrectomy in the Department of General Surgery in the Affiliated Jinling Hospital, Nanjing University Medical College from January 2009 to December 2011 were retrospectively analyzed. There were 97 patients undergoing robotic gastrectomy(ROB group) and 70 patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy (LAP group). The following parameters were compared between these two groups: intraoperative factors, oncologic outcomes, and short-term surgical outcomes.

All the operations were performed successfully without conversion. Compared with the LAP group, the ROB group had less intraoperative blood loss [(80.8±53.1) vs. (153.7±26.4) ml, P=0.001], more number of lymph node dissection [(23.1±5.4) vs. (20.0±4.3), P=0.001], longer operative time [(272.3±46.1) vs. (240.3±89.1) min, P=0.001], earlier semifluid diet time [(3.2±0.8) vs. (3.6±1.2) d, P=0.002], shorter postoperative hospital stay [(6.1±2.6) vs. (6.9±2.3) d, P=0.037]. There were no significant differences in the length of distal and proximal margin, postoperative ambulation time, ventilation time and postoperative complications(all P>0.05).

The robotic gastrectomy is safe and feasible for gastric cancer. It has many advantages such as less blood loss, more number of lymph node dissection and quicker recovery. Similar radical resection can be achieved compared to laparoscopic gastrectomy.