Minimal invasive gastric surgery: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: As an alternate to open surgery, laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) is currently being performed in many centers, and has gained a wide clinical acceptance. The aim of this review article is to compare oncologic adequacy and safety of LG with open surgery for gastric adenocarcinomas with respect to lymphadenectomy, short-term outcomes (postoperative morbidity and mortality) and long-term outcome (5 years overall survival and disease-free survival). MATERIALS AND METHODS: PubMed was searched using query “LG” for literature published in English from January 2000 to April 2014. A total of 875 entries were retrieved. These articles were screened and 59 manuscripts ultimately formed the basis of current review. RESULTS: There is high-quality evidence to support short-term efficacy, safety and feasibility of LG for gastric adenocarcinomas, although accounts on long-term survivals are still infrequent.