Short-Term Outcomes of Laparoscopic/Robotic Gastrectomy Compared with Open Gastrectomy for Advanced Gastric Cancer Following Chemotherapy

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the short-term outcomes of laparoscopic gastrectomy/robotic gastrectomy after chemotherapy in patients with advanced gastric cancer and compare these outcomes with those of open gastrectomy. Methods Fifty patients who underwent radical gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer after chemotherapy between 2007 and 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into two groups: the laparoscopic gastrectomy/robotic gastrectomy (n = 11) and open gastrectomy (n = 39) groups. The short-term outcomes of these procedures were subsequently examined. Results The laparoscopic gastrectomy/robotic gastrectomy group had significantly shorter hospital stays and lower intraoperative blood loss than the open gastrectomy group. The overall complication rates were 12.8% (5 of 39 patients) and 0% (0 of 11 patients) in the open gastrectomy and laparoscopic gastrectomy/robotic gastrectomy groups, respectively (P = 0.1). Conclusions Laparoscopic gastrectomy/robotic gastrectomy may be a surgical option after chemotherapy for patients with advanced gastric cancer.