Objective evaluation of clinical outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted pylorus-preserving gastrectomy for middle-third early gastric cancer

Laparoscopic-assisted pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (LAPPG) is a minimally invasive function-preserving surgery for early gastric cancer. This study was designed to investigate the clinical outcomes between LAPPG and laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) by objective evaluation. A total 167 pT1N0M0 gastric cancer patients underwent LAPPG(n = 70) and LADG(n = 97) were retrospectively analyzed. By evaluating the functional advantages, objective short-term and one year follow-up outcomes were compared. There is no significant difference in perioperative clinical characteristics as well as pathologic results between LAPPG and LADG group while the cost is higher in latter(p = 0.004). The Clavien-Dindo grade II or higher complications were 15.7 and 13.4% in LAPPG and LADG group respectively(p = 0.824). In one year follow-up, nutritional status was significantly better in LAPPG group accompanied by better pylorus function preserving. LAPPG is an acceptable surgical procedure for pT1N0M0 middle portion gastric cancer patients in terms of nutritional and economic advantage. Chinese Clinical Trial Registry ( ChiCTR-PIC-17012358 , Date of Registration:2017-08-14).