Drain vs No Drain after Performing Totally Laparoscopic Gastrectomy in Gastric Cancer Surgery.

Background: Routine performance of a prophylactic postoperative drainage after abdominal surgeries was done to prevent and manage postoperative intra-abdominal complications. Sure evidence to avoid routine performance of prophylactic drainage after surgery in gastric cancer (GC) patients and its role in reducing postoperative morbidity was not reached yet. Aim: The aim of the present study was to compare between patients who underwent prophylactic drainage and patients who did not undergo prophylactic drainage following total laparoscopic gastrectomy in patients diagnosed with distal GC. Patients and methods: We included 150 patients who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy for surgical management of histopathologically confirmed GCs. We divided patients into two groups, the first group included 100 patients and underwent totally laparoscopic gastrectomy with prophylactic drainage, and the other group included 50 patients underwent totally laparoscopic gastrectomy without performing drainage. We compare between both included groups regarding short-term and long-term outcomes. Results: Operative times in the group of patients who have drain group were longer than that in those with no drain. We showed that in the group of patients with drain, the number of days from time of surgery to time of soft diet initiation and time to first flatus was more than that in the no drain group. Conclusion: Avoiding prophylactic drain insertion in some patients after performing totally laparoscopic gastrectomy for management of gastric cancer could be feasible. It increases patients comfort without increasing the risk of postoperative complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]