Short-term efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted vs open radical gastrectomy in gastric cancer

To investigate the short-term benefits of laparoscopic radical gastrectomy (LARG) and open radical gastrectomy (ORG) in patients with gastric cancer.

A total of 400 patients with gastric cancer aged ≤ 65 years who were treated at General Hospital of Lanzhou Military Region were enrolled. Among these, 200 patients underwent LARG between October 2008 and August 2012 (LARG group); and 200 patients underwent ORG between March 2000 and September 2008 (ORG group). The short-term therapeutic benefits between the two groups were analyzed.

The LARG procedure offered significantly better benefits to the patients compared to the ORG procedure, including less intraoperative blood loss (103.1 ± 19.5 mL vs 163.0 ± 32.9 mL, P < 0.0001), shorter postoperative hospital stay (6.8 ± 1.2 d vs 9.5 ± 1.6 d, P < 0.0001), less frequent occurrence of postoperative complications (6.5% vs 13.5%, P = 0.02), shorter time to mobilization (1.0 ± 0.3 vs 3.3 ± 0.4 d, P < 0.0001), shorter time to bowel opening (3.3 ± 0.7 d vs 4.5 ± 0.7 d, P < 0.0001), and shorter time to normal diet (3.0 ± 0.4 vs d 3.8 ± 0.5 d, P < 0.0001). However, LARG required a longer time to complete than the ORG procedure (192.3 ± 20.9 min vs 180.0 ± 26.9 min, P < 0.0001).

Compared to ORG, LARG is safer, more effective, and less invasive for treating gastric cancer, with better short-term efficacy.