The Effect of Surgical Approach on Clinical Outcomes in 535 Patients with Remnant Gastric Cancer

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) and open gastrectomy (OG) on clinical outcomes in patients with remnant gastric cancer (RGC). The databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library were used to search for eligible studies from inception to April 1st, 2023. Hazard ratios (HRs), mean difference (MD), odds ratios (OR), and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were pooled up to analyze. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) scores were used to evaluate the quality of the included studies. This study was performed with RevMan 5.3 (The Cochrane Collaboration, London, United Kingdom) software. A total of 11 studies involving 535 RGC patients were included in this study. In terms of basic information, we found that the OG group had a higher American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) grade (≥2) (OR = 0.24, I² = 54%, 95% CI = 0.08-0.71, P = .01) than the LG group. In terms of postoperative outcomes, we found that the LG group had longer operative time (MD = 33.95, I² = 58%, 95% CI = 15.05-52.85, P < .01), shorter postoperative hospital stay (MD = 5.08, I² = 84%, 95% CI = -9.74 to -0.42, P = .03), shorter length of incision (MD = -7.15, I² = 94%, 95% CI = -10.99 to -3.31, P < .01), earlier food intake (MD = -3.09, I² = 76%, 95% CI = -4.84 to -1.35, P < .01), and earlier time to first flatus (MD = -0.84, I² = 0%, 95% CI = -1.09 to -0.59, P < .01). We found that there was no statistically significant difference in overall survival (HR = 0.96, I² = 0%, 95% CI = 0.48-1.93, P = .92) between the LG group and the OG group. LG for RGC patients had longer surgical time, shorter postoperative hospital stay, shorter length of incision, earlier food intake, and earlier time to first flatus.