Our experience with laparoscopic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer: A case series

Background: Though laparoscopic distal gastrectomy has become a standard procedure for treatment of gastric cancer, laparoscopic total gastrectomy has not been widely accepted as it requires more dexterity and lack of evidence about its feasibility and safety. Methods: Here retrospectively we review a series of 12 cases of gastric cancer undergone laparoscopic total gastrectomy with D1 or D2 lymphadenectomy over a period of 7 years at a tertiary care hospital. The patient demographic characteristics were reviewed and the outcomes after surgery was analyzed in terms of extent of lymphadenectomy, mean operative time, mean intraoperative blood loss median number of lymph nodes harvested, median time for postoperative ambulation, median time for postoperative oral feeding, median time of postoperative hospital stay, postoperative complications and mortality. Results: All patients had total gastrectomy entirely through laparoscopic method. Mean operative time was 282 minutes, mean intraoperative blood loss was 120 ml, median time for ambulation and oral feeding was 3 days and 6 days respectively. Median time of hospital stay was 16 days and 2 patients had complications as pancreatic fistula and port site abscess. No mortality was observed. Conclusion: With zero mortality and accepted rate of complications, laparoscopic total gastrectomy appears to be technically feasible and safe for management of gastric cancer. But more studies have to be conducted with comparison to other standard gastrectomies and long term follow up to be done to establish its standardized application.