Robotic radical lymphadenectomy without touching the pancreas during gastrectomy for gastric cancer

This study compares the safety and feasibility of short-term surgical outcomes of RG and LG for patients with GC. This was a single-center retrospective study of 659 consecutive patients with GC who received minimally invasive surgery. LG (n = 639) was performed between 2013 and 2017 and RG (n = 20) was performed in 2017. Lymphadenectomy without touching the pancreas was basically performed during RG using assisting articulating forceps. Overall incidence of postoperative complications higher than Clavien–Dindo grade 2 was not significantly different (LG group 5.9%, RG group 5.0%). In RG group, POPF, intra-abdominal abscess, and anastomotic leakage were not found, but postoperative bleeding requiring interventional catheter embolization occurred in 1 patient. In LG, POPF was found in 4.7%. Amylase levels in drainage fluid on postoperative day 1 were significantly lower in the RG group (238.5 IU/L) than in the LG group (884.5 IU/L) (P = .028). Regarding short-term surgical outcomes, RG is feasible, safe, and ideal treatment procedure for GC. Our robotic procedure without touching the pancreas may be associated with decreased incidence of POPF.
Source: Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Tags: Research Article: Observational Study Source Type: research