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Background: Laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) is increasingly preferred for operative management of early gastric cancer, although there is no consensus on a standard reconstruction method after resection. Two popular methods used after LPG are double tract reconstruction (DTR) and double flap technique (DFT). This study assessed comprehensive clinical outcomes including quality of life (QoL) and body composition change 1 year after DFT and DTR., Methods: We retrospectively reviewed prospectively collected data from 51 to 18 patients who underwent DTR and DFT, respectively, between September 2014 and December 2018. Short-term surgical outcomes, presence of reflux esophagitis, nutritional supplementation, medications, nutritional status (laboratory results and body composition analysis), and QoL measured preoperatively and at 1 year postoperatively were compared between both groups., Results: Both groups did not differ significantly in clinicopathological characteristics. The DFT as compared to the DTR group required significantly longer time for anastomosis (79.4 vs. 60.9 min, p < 0.001) and use of fewer staplers (3.39 vs. 6.86, p < 0.001). While the presence of endoscopic reflux esophagitis and iron/vitamin B 12 replacement were comparable, the DTR group showed a higher tendency of taking anti-reflux medications for reflux symptoms (DTR: 13.7% vs. DFT: 0.0%, p = 0.177). The DTR group lost significantly more weight (p = 0.038) and body fat (p = 0.009). QoL analysis showed significant deterioration in diarrhea, eating restriction, and taste problems in both groups (DTR group: p = 0.008, p < 0.001, p = 0.010, respectively, and DFT group: p = 0.017, p = 0.024, p = 0.034, respectively). However, only the DTR group showed significant deterioration in physical function (p = 0.009), role function (p = 0.033), nausea/vomiting (p = 0.041), appetite loss (p = 0.019), dysphagia (p = 0.001), pain (p = 0.025), and body image (p = 0.004)., Conclusions: Despite requiring a longer anastomosis time, performing DFT after LPG was shown to be an ideal reconstruction method in terms of better 1-year QoL and nutritional outcome. Further larger studies over longer postoperative periods are necessary to confirm our findings., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Rationale: With the increase of gastric cancer surveillance and endoscopic resection techniques, the number of endoscopic resections being performed for the treatment of early gastric cancer in East Asian countries has been increasing. Previously, endoscopic resection has been limited to only differentiated type intramucosal cancers which had a diameter ≤2.0 cm, provided there was no evidence of ulceration and lymphovascular invasion, known as absolute indications. And recently, indications for endoscopic resection have been expanded to include even more cases., Patient Concerns: A 57-year-old female, who had undergone curative endoscopic submucosal dissection for early gastric cancer under the absolute indications for endoscopic resection 5 years prior, was referred to the department of general surgery with metastatic perigastric lymph nodes without intragastric lesions., Diagnosis: Computed tomography scan revealed the presence of a few enlarged lymph nodes at the distal part of the lesser curvature of the stomach. And positron emission tomography scan further revealed the presence of two hypermetabolic lymph nodes near the common hepatic artery, suggestive of metastatic lymph nodes., Interventions: Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy and Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy with D2 lymph node dissection were performed., Outcomes: Final pathology report revealed the absence of any residual carcinoma in the stomach. However lymphovascular invasion of omental fat, and 3 out of 29 perigastric lymph nodes harvested had metastatic adenocarcinoma., Lessons: The case demonstrates that regional lymph node recurrence without intragastric lesions after curative resection of early gastric cancer meeting the absolute indications for endoscopic resection is possible even 5 years after resection of the primary lesion., Competing Interests: The authors have no funding and conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc.)

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the surgical outcomes of laparoscopic proximal gastrectomy (LPG) reconstructed by the double-tract method in comparison to those of laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG)., Methods: A retrospective review of the prospectively established database identified early gastric cancer patients who underwent LPG (n = 34) or LTG (n = 46) between January 2011 and December 2015. Baseline characteristics and surgical outcomes including postoperative complications, changes in body composition, nutritional status, and quality of life (QOL) after surgery were compared between the LPG and LTG patients., Results: Operating time was significantly longer in the LTG group (240.7 ± 43.9 vs. 211.7 ± 32.8 min, p = 0.007). The incidence of grade II or more complications and the hospital stay were comparable between the groups. There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of body composition using a bioelectrical impedance method in 1 year postoperatively. Nutritional status assessed by serum hemoglobin, iron, vitamin B12, albumin, total protein, and total cholesterol levels and postoperative changes in quality of life up to 2 years after surgery were also similar between the groups. Vitamin B12 supplementation was required in 75.4% of the patients in the LTG group and 46.5% in the LPG group within 2 years after surgery (p = 0.005)., Conclusion: LPG with double-tract reconstruction appears superior in preventing vitamin B12 deficiency compared to LTG, particularly after 1 year after the surgery, although it offered little benefit in terms of postoperative body composition changes and QOL., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd, BASO ~ The Association for Cancer Surgery, and the European Society of Surgical Oncology. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This randomized, phase II, multicenter clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the feasibility of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with D2 lymph node dissection compared with open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for the treatment of advanced gastric cancer (AGC)., Summary of Background Data: D2 lymph node dissection has been accepted as standard treatment for AGC. Although LADG is widely performed in early gastric cancer (EGC), the feasibility of LADG in AGC has not been proven yet., Methods: Patients with cT2-T4a and cN0-2 (AJCC 7 staging system) distal gastric cancer were randomly but not blindingly assigned to LADG or ODG groups using fixed block sizes with a 1:1 allocation ratio. The primary endpoint was the noncompliance rate of the lymph node dissection, which was used to evaluate feasibility. Secondary endpoints included 3-year disease-free survival (DFS), 5-year overall survival, complications, and surgical stress response., Results: Between June 2010 and October 2011, 204 patients enrolled and underwent either LADG (n = 105) or ODG (n = 99). Of these, 196 patients (100 in LADG and 96 in ODG) were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. There were no significant differences in the overall noncompliance rate of lymph node dissection between LADG and ODG groups (47.0% and 43.2%, respectively; P = 0.648). In the subgroup analysis, the noncompliance rate in the LADG group was significantly higher than the ODG group for clinical stage III disease (52.0% vs 25.0%, P = 0.043). No difference was found in the 3-year DFS rate between the groups (LADG, 80.1%; ODG, 81.9%; P = 0.448). Differences in postoperative complication rates and surgical stress response were found to be insignificant between the 2 arms., Conclusions: LADG was feasible for AGC treatment based on the noncompliance rate of D2 lymph node dissection. Subgroups analysis data suggest that further studies are needed for stage III gastric cancer.

Background: Along with the marked increase in early gastric cancer (EGC) in the Eastern countries, there has been an effort to adopt the sentinel node concept in EGC to preserve gastric function and reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications. Based on promising results from a previous quality control study, this prospective multicenter randomized controlled phase III clinical trial aims to elucidate the oncologic safety of laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with sentinel basin dissection (SBD) compared to a standard laparoscopic gastrectomy., Methods/design: This trial is an investigator-initiated, open-label, multicenter randomized controlled phase III trial with a non-inferiority design. Patients diagnosed with a single lesion of clinical stage T1N0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma, with a diameter of 3 cm or less are eligible for the present study. A total of 580 patients (290 per group) will be randomized to either laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with SBD or standard surgery. The primary end-point is 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) and the secondary endpoints include postoperative morbidity and mortality, quality of life, 5-year DFS, and overall survival. Qualified investigators who completed the prior quality control study are exclusively allowed to participate in this phase III clinical trial., Discussion: The proposed trial is expected to verify whether laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with SBD achieves similar oncologic outcomes and improved quality of life compared to a standard gastrectomy in EGC patients., Trial Registration: This study was registered at the NIH ClinicalTrial.gov database ( NCT01804998 ) on March 4th, 2013.

Purpose: Despite theoretical advantages, no clear benefit was proven for initial application of robotic surgery for gastric cancer so far. The aim of this analysis was to examine the role of robotic surgery regarding nodal dissection technically demanding areas compared to conventional laparoscopic surgery., Methods: This analysis included 87 patients who underwent robot-assisted distal gastrectomy (RADG) and 288 patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) at the National Cancer Center, Korea, between February 2009 and September 2011. Clinicopathologic data, surgery-related data, postoperative morbidity, and pathologic data for each nodal station were analyzed., Results: Time to flatulence was 3.5 ± 0.8 days for RADG and 3.8 ± 0.8 days for LADG (P = 0.01). Postoperative hospital stay was 6.7 ± 1.0 days in RADG and 7.4 ± 2.4 days in LADG (P < 0.001).The number of dissected lymph nodes was 37.1 ± 12.9 in the RADG group and 34.1 ± 12.1 in the LADG group (P = 0.044). In patients undergoing D2 gastrectomy, the number of dissected lymph nodes in the N2 area was 16.3 ± 7.7 for RADG and 13.2 ± 5.3 for LADG (P = 0.001). The number of dissected lymph nodes around the splenic artery area was 2.9 ± 2.9 in RADG and 2.2 ± 2.0 in LADG (P = 0.04). Regarding postoperative complications, there was no statistically significant difference [five patients (5.7%) in RADG and 26 patients (9%) in LADG) (P = 0.330)]., Conclusion: RADG could provide an advantage over LADG in the dissection of the N2 area lymph nodes, especially around the splenic artery area.

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the medium-term efficacy and adverse events of laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) performed at a single center in Korea., Methods: The records of 412 consecutive patients who underwent LRYGB between January 2011 and February 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The preoperative demographics, surgical outcomes, and follow-up data including anthropometrics indices and late complications were analyzed., Results: The mean preoperative body mass index was 38.0 ± 5.8 kg/m(2) and 338 patients (82.0 %) had at least one obesity-related comorbidity. Seven patients (1.7 %) developed severe complications requiring invasive intervention or reoperation. The %EWL of the eligible patients was 63.1, 74.3, 79.2, 65.4, and 89.8 % at 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 months, respectively. Diabetes was resolved in 63.5 % of the followed up patients. Twenty-two out of 256 patients (8.6 %) with available follow-up data failed to achieve  %EWL ≥50 % by 12 months after the surgery. The most frequent late complications were marginal ulcers (24.5 %) and anemia (18.0 %)., Conclusion: LRYGB achieves excellent weight loss and significant short- to medium-term comorbidity resolution in Korean obese patients with acceptable perioperative risks. However, late complications including marginal ulcers and nutritional deficiencies are not negligible. Therefore, regular and lifelong surveillance is mandatory in patients undergoing LRYGB.

Aim: To compare the mid-term outcomes of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) in obese Korean patients., Methods: All consecutive patients who underwent either LSG or LRYGB with primary to treat morbid obesity between January 2011 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. Patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m(2) with inadequately controlled obesity-related comorbidities (e.g., diabetes, obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, or obesity-related arthropathy) or BMI ≥ 35 kg/m(2) were considered for bariatric surgery according to the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity-Asia Pacific Chapter Consensus statements in 2011. The decision regarding the procedure type was made on an individual basis following extensive discussion with the patient about the specific risks associated with each procedure. All operative procedures were performed laparoscopically by a single surgeon experienced in upper gastrointestinal surgeries. Baseline demographics, perioperative surgical outcomes, and postoperative anthropometric data from a prospectively established database were thoroughly reviewed and compared between the two surgical approaches., Results: One hundred four patients underwent LSG, and 236 underwent LRYGB. Preoperative BMI in the LSG group was significantly higher than that of the LRYGB group (38.6 kg/m(2) vs 37.2 kg/m(2), P = 0.024). Patients with diabetes were more prevalent in the LRYGB group (18.3% vs 35.6%, P = 0.001). Operating time and hospital stay were significantly shorter in the LSG group compared with the LRYGB group (100 min vs 130 min, P < 0.001; 1 d vs 2 d, P = 0.003), but the incidence of perioperative complications was similar between the groups (P = 0.351). The mean percentage of excess weight loss (%EWL) was 71.2% for LRYGB, while it was 63.5% for LSG, at mean follow-up periods of 18.0 and 21.0 mo, respectively (P = 0.073). The %EWL at 1, 3, 6, 12, 18, 24, and 36 mo was equivalent between the groups. Four patients required surgical revision after LSG (4.8%), while revision was only required in one case following LRYGB (0.4%; P = 0.011)., Conclusion: Both LSG and LRYGB are effective procedures that induce comparable weight loss in the mid-term and similar surgical risks, except for the higher revision rate after LSG.

Background: Laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG) has recently gained rapidly increasing popularity as a stand-alone procedure for the treatment of morbid obesity. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of LSG in mildly obese patients with a body mass index (BMI) of 30-35 kg/m(2)., Methods: One hundred ninety-two patients who consecutively underwent LSG between April 2009 and December 2012 were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were classified into a lower BMI (30-35 kg/m(2)) and higher BMI group (>35 kg/m(2)). Demographics and surgical outcomes were compared between the groups., Results: Forty-nine patients (25.5 %) belonged to the lower BMI group, while the other 143 (74.5 %) to the higher BMI group. The preoperative BMI of each group was 32.7 ± 1.6 and 42.6 ± 6.6 kg/m(2), respectively. Severe complications requiring invasive intervention developed only in the higher BMI group (4/143, 2.8 %). The percent of excess weight loss (%EWL) in the lower BMI group was 86.1 % at mean follow-up of 24 months, which was significantly greater than in the higher BMI group (61.9 %, p<0.001). Serial follow-up showed that %EWL was significantly greater in the lower BMI group until 2 years postoperatively, and the difference became statistically insignificant thereafter. The resolution of comorbidities was observed in more than 80 % of the patients both in lower and higher BMI groups., Conclusion: LSG achieved excellent outcomes without severe complications for mildly obese patients. LSG could serve as a safe and effective stand-alone procedure to achieve sustained weight loss and comorbidity resolution in patients with a lower BMI.

Purpose: Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is thought to be the gold standard treatment for morbid obesity. However, concerns have been raised by investigators in areas where gastric cancer is prevalent regarding the inaccessibility of the excluded stomach to regular surveillance. This study aimed to evaluate the technical feasibility and short-term surgical outcomes of resectional RYGB., Methods: Sixteen consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic gastric bypass with distal gastric resection for the primary purpose of weight loss between January 2011 and December 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. The perioperative outcomes and weight loss results of these patients were analyzed., Results: All procedures were successfully performed laparoscopically. The mean length of the operation and the mean hospital stay were 170 min (range 110-225) and 4 days (range 2-7), respectively. The prevalence of early postoperative complications reached 18.7% after resectional RYGB, but a severe complication requiring reoperation occurred in only one patient (6.3%). The percent of excess weight loss was 78.9% over a mean follow-up period of 14 months. Obesity-related comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension and dyslipidemia resolved or improved after surgery in most patients., Conclusion: Resectional RYGB is technically feasible and can be a viable option in countries with a high risk of gastric cancer, where surgeons are already well trained in laparoscopic gastrectomy.

Background: The adoption of robotic systems for gastric cancer surgery has been proven feasible and safe; however, a benefit over the laparoscopic approach has not yet been well-documented. We aimed to investigate the surgical outcomes of robotic versus laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer, according to the extent of surgery and patients' obesity status., Methods: Between January 2009 and July 2011, 770 patients were enrolled in this retrospective analysis. All had stage IA/IB gastric cancer preoperatively and underwent either laparoscopic (n = 622) or robotic (n = 148) gastrectomy. Patients were classified into obese and non-obese groups on the basis of visceral fat area (VFA). The extent of surgery was defined by whether patients underwent distal or total gastrectomy., Results: The surgical outcomes following distal gastrectomy were similar between the robotic and laparoscopic groups regardless of the obesity status. After total gastrectomy, the number of total and N2-area lymph nodes were significantly higher in the robotic group than in the laparoscopic group in non-obese patients with VFA < 100 cm(2) (total, 38.8 vs. 46.5; p = 0.018; N2 area, 9.0 vs. 12.4; p = 0.041), but no significant differences were observed in obese population. Robotic group developed less severe complications after total gastrectomy compared to laparoscopic group in non-obese patients (p = 0.036)., Conclusion: Robotic assistance did not improve surgical outcomes over the laparoscopic approach in obese patients undergoing distal gastrectomy. However, non-obese patients with low VFA may benefit from robotic assistance during total gastrectomy in terms of radical D2 lymphadenectomy with fewer serious complications.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) compared to open distal gastrectomy (ODG) in the treatment of early gastric cancer with respect to survival, surgical outcomes, complications, and quality of life (QOL)., Methods: One hundred sixty-four patients with cT1N0M0 and cT1N1M0 distal gastric cancer were randomly assigned to either the LADG group or the ODG group. The primary end point was the 5-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate. Complications were classified using the accordion severity classification of postoperative complications scheme. QOL was measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQ-C30 and QLQ-STO22 preoperatively and postoperatively during regular follow-up visits. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT00546468)., Results: The median (range) follow-up period was 74.3 (24.8-90.8) months. The LADG and ODG groups showed similar survival [5-year DFS rate: 98.8 % vs. 97.6 %, respectively (P = 0.514), 5-year overall survival (OS) rate: 97.6 vs. 96.3 %, respectively (P = 0.721)] or overall complication rate (29.3 vs. 42.7 %, respectively; P = 0.073). Mild complications were significantly less frequent in the LADG group than in the ODG group (23.2 vs. 41.5 %; P = 0.012). The rates of moderate, severe, and long-term complications (i.e., 31 days to 5 years after surgery) did not differ significantly between groups. No clinically meaningful differences were detected between the two groups in long-term QOL., Conclusion: LADG showed similar DFS and OS compared to ODG in treating early gastric cancer. Marginal benefits in mild complications were observed with LADG. LADG did not show advantages over ODG regarding other complications and long-term QOL.

Background: Laparoscopically assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) is technically difficult. Robot surgery has theoretical advantages such as increased degrees of freedom of instruments and a three-dimensional view. The current study aimed to determine whether a robot-assisted total gastrectomy (RATG) has a real benefit over LATG in terms of surgical and oncologic outcomes., Methods: A single-center case-control study was conducted. The study included 36 patients who underwent RATG and 65 patients who underwent LATG at the National Cancer Center in Korea between February 2009 and May 2011. No patients were excluded from the analysis within the study period. Clinicopathologic data, operative data, postoperative morbidity, and pathologic data were analyzed by Student's t-tests and Chi-square tests, as indicated., Results: The mean age of the patients was 53.9 ± 11.7 years in the RATG group and 56.9 ± 12.3 years in the LATG group (P = 0.236). The mean BMI was 23.2 ± 2.5 kg/m(2) in the RATG group and 23.6 ± 3.4 kg/m(2) in the LATG group (P = 0.494). The mean postoperative hospital stay was 8.8 ± 3.3 days in the RATG group and 10.3 ± 10.8 days in the LATG group (P = 0.416). The mean operative time was 305.8 ± 115.8 min in the RATG group and 210.2 ± 57.7 min in the LATG group (P < 0.001). The mean number of dissected lymph nodes was 42.8 ± 12.7 in the RATG group and 39.4 ± 13.4 in the LATG group (P = 0.209). Postoperative complications were experienced by 6 patients (16.7%) in the RATG group and 10 patients (15.4%) in the LATG group (P = 0.866)., Conclusion: Despite early experiences, RATG was shown to be comparable with LATG in terms of surgical and oncologic outcomes. However, no apparent benefit is associated with RATG to date.

Background. We investigated the results of quality control study prior to phase III trial of sentinel lymph node navigation surgery (SNNS). Methods. Data were reviewed from 108 patients enrolled in the feasibility study of laparoscopic sentinel basin dissection (SBD) in gastric cancer. Seven steps contain tracer injection at submucosa (step 1) and at four sites (step 2) by intraoperative esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), leakage of tracer (step 3), injection within 3 minutes (step 4), identification of at least one sentinel basin (SB) (step 5), evaluation of sentinel basin nodes (SBNs) by frozen biopsy (step 6), and identification of at least five SBNs at back table and frozen sections (step 7). Results. Failure in step 7 (n=23) was the most common followed by step 3 (n=15) and step 6 (n=13). We did not find any differences of clinicopathological factors between success and failure group in steps 1~6. In step 7, body mass index (BMI) was only the significant factor. The success rate was 97.1% in patients with BMI  <  23 kg/m2 and 80.3% in those with BMI ≥ 23 kg/m2 (P=0.028). Conclusions. Lower BMI group showed higher success rate in step 7. Surgeons doing SNNS should be cautious when evaluating sufficient number of SBN in obese patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Along with the marked increase in early gastric cancer (EGC) in the Eastern countries, there has been an effort to adopt the sentinel node concept in EGC to preserve gastric function and reduce the occurrence of postoperative complications. Based on promising results from a previous quality control study, this prospective multicenter randomized controlled phase III clinical trial aims to elucidate the oncologic safety of laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with sentinel basin dissection (SBD) compared to a standard laparoscopic gastrectomy.Methods/design: This trial is an investigator-initiated, open-label, multicenter randomized controlled phase III trial with a non-inferiority design. Patients diagnosed with a single lesion of clinical stage T1N0M0 gastric adenocarcinoma, with a diameter of 3 cm or less are eligible for the present study. A total of 580 patients (290 per group) will be randomized to either laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with SBD or standard surgery. The primary end-point is 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) and the secondary endpoints include postoperative morbidity and mortality, quality of life, 5-year DFS, and overall survival. Qualified investigators who completed the prior quality control study are exclusively allowed to participate in this phase III clinical trial.Discussion: The proposed trial is expected to verify whether laparoscopic stomach-preserving surgery with SBD achieves similar oncologic outcomes and improved quality of life compared to a standard gastrectomy in EGC patients.Trial Registration: This study was registered at the NIH ClinicalTrial.gov database ( NCT01804998 ) on March 4th, 2013. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]