Transgastric laparoendoscopic approach to tumours of the stomach

There is currently limited data to reassure the technical efficacy, particularly in attaining clear margins, through a transgastric laparo-endoscopic approach to resecting tumours located near the gastroesophageal junction (GOJ) or the pylorus.

Single institution retrospective analysis of all cases from 1 April 2008 to 31 Dec 2019.

Overall, 34 patients (38 tumours) underwent transgastric laparo-endoscopic resection. Of these, 27 (71.1%) and 5 (14.7%) cases were located close to the GOJ and pylorus respectively. Three (8.0%) cases were converted to conventional laparoscopic excision. No anatomical gastric resection was required. The mean (SD) operative time was 167.5 (64.2) minutes and reduced with increasing experience. The median (IQR) length-of-stay was 3.0 (3.0-4.5) days. Major post-operative complication (Clavian-Dindo ≥3) occurred in 1 (2.9%) patient, which required surgical control of staple line bleeding. The most common pathology was gastrointestinal stromal tumour (71.1%), followed by leiomyoma (10.5%), schwannoma (5.2%), dysplastic polyp (5.2%), and neuroendocrine tumour (2.6%). The mean (SD) tumour diameter was 3.9 (2.1) cm (largest 10.1 cm, 10 cases >5 cm). Resection margins were clear in all cases. We found no evidence of tumour recurrence or gastric stenosis at a median follow-up of 88 months.

Transgastric laparo-endoscopic resection of junctional and pyloric tumours with low metastatic potential is technically feasible. This approach achieved clear resection margins in all our cases, with acceptable perioperative and longer-term outcomes.