Hand-assisted laparoscopic resection versus total laparoscopic gastric surgery for primary gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs): an analysis from a high-volume institution

Laparoscopic resection of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) is technically feasible and associated with favorable outcomes. We compared the clinical efficacy of hand-assisted laparoscopic surgery (HLS) and total laparoscopic surgery (TLS) for gastric GISTs. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 69 consecutive patients diagnosed with a gastric GIST in a tertiary referral teaching hospital from December 2016 to December 2020. Surgical outcomes were compared between two groups. Fifty-three patients (TLS group: n = 36; HLS group: n = 17) were included. The mean age was 56.9 and 58.1 years in the TLS and HLS groups, respectively. The maximum tumor margin was significantly shorter in the HLS group than in the TLS group (2.3 ± 0.9. vs. 3.0 ± 0.8 cm; P = 0.004). The operative time of the HLS group was significantly shorter than that of the TLS group (70.6 ± 19.1 min vs. 134.4 ± 53.7 min; P