Comparison of treatment outcomes between laparoscopic and endoscopic surgeries for relatively small gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors

Complete surgical resection remains the predominant treatment modality for primary gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). No therapeutic consensus exists for 2–5 cm gastric GISTs. We compared the efficacy, safety, and prognosis of laparoscopic and endoscopic surgeries in the treatment of relatively small (2–5 cm) intraluminal gastric GISTs. We collected 101 patients with relatively small intraluminal gastric GISTs who had integrated clinicopathological data and underwent laparoscopic or endoscopic resection (laparoscopic group n = 66; endoscopic group n = 35). Clinicopathological characteristics, perioperative data, and long-term oncological outcomes were retrospectively analyzed. Comparative analysis of clinicopathological data in the two groups was performed by using a chi-square test, Fisher's exact test, and Student's t-test. Recurrence-free survival (RFS) was analyzed by the log-rank test. All clinicopathological characteristics had no significant difference between the two groups. Patients in the endoscopic group had shorter operation time (P