Laparoscopic surgery for stomach cancer

From June 1996 to December 1999, seventy-two patients underwent laparoscopi c gastric surgery for stomach neoplasms at KMC. Subsequent diagnoses includ ed stomach cancer in 67 patients and submucosal tumor in the remaining five (5). Operations performed laparoscopically for stomach cancer included loc al resection of the stomach using the lesion lifting method in 22 patients, mucosal resection by intragastric surgery in seven (7), mucosal resection by intragastric surgery through laparotomy in four (4), laparoscopy-assiste d distal gastrectomy (LADG) in 24, laparoscopic exploration for far-advance d cancer with suspected peritoneal dissemination in ten (10). LADG was adde d to the laparoscopic surgical technique in January 1998 though the first t hree procedures described above had been adopted at the initial stage of th e series. LADG is indicated not only for mucosal cancer with unclear margin s but also for submucosal cancer without massive submucosal invasion (sm1-2 ) because D-1. or D-2 lymph node dissection can be performed in LADG. This is the reason for the rapid increase in the number of cases of LADG in spit e of its late adoption in this series.