Early experience with laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer

Use of the laparoscopic approach for the management of gastric cancer is st ill in the developmental phase. The authors present their experience with l aparoscopic radical gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer. Between Septem ber 1997 and August 1999, four laparoscopic gastrectomies for gastric carci noma were performed on two male and two female patients (mean age, 61.5 yea rs). One D2 total radical gastrectomy and three D2 subtotal distal gastrect omies were performed, using a totally laparoscopic approach. Mean operative time was 210 minutes. There were no intraoperative complications. All four patients recovered uneventfully from surgery and began oral feeding on the third postoperative day. Median postoperative stay was 7 days (range, 6-9) . All patients were alive 8 months to 3 years after the operation, with no cancer recurrences. This series shows that laparoscopic radical gastrectomy for moderately advanced cancers can produce good results in terms of safet y and oncologic adequacy.