Mini-laparotomy with abdominal wall lifting for partial gastrectomy in patients with early gastric mucosal cancer at lesser curvature of the middle stomach

Abstract

Partial gastrectomy (PG) is the most frequently adopted minimally invasive procedure for early gastric cancer (EGC), especially mucosal cancer (MC). The aim of this study was to introduce a minimally invasive procedure, i.e., minilaparotomy with abdominal wall lifting for PG in patients with early mucosal gastric cancer at the lesser curvature of the middle stomach. Well differentiated adenocarcionoma in MC at the lesser curvature of the middle stomach was selected, where no lymph node metastasis (NO) was confirmed using ultrasonic endoscopy, CT, and MRI during the preoperative examinations. PG was also chosen for patients with a tumor size of 2cm or less and non-depressive type in whom endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) or endoscopic submucosal resection (ESD) was not possible. Five MC patients (3 men and 2 women, aged 44-62 years, mean age 53.3 years) underwent mini-laparotomy with abdominal wall lifting for PG. Our procedure involved a 6 cm upper abdominal median incision made at the beginning of the operation. The upper abdominal wall was lifted by a subcutaneous Kirshner wire. The small wound was also pulled upward and/or laterally by Kent retractors and conventional surgical instruments were used through the wound. The middle stomach could be detected through the small wound and partially resected, approximately 1 cm from the tumor edge under the guide of the endoscope. The resected stomach margin was stitched layer-to-layer. In this way, PG was easily completed. The total surgical time was 71.8 +/- 12.9 min and the mean estimated blood loss was 30.8 +/- 20.5 ml. Day of starting diet was 3 +/- 0.7 days after operation. Post-operative hospitalization was 8.2 +/- 1.3 days. There was no surgical mortality. All subjects were satisfied with this procedure. Mini-laparotomy with abdominal wall lifting is a safe and efficient technique in the treatment of PG for MC with NO at the lesser curvature of the middle stomach when EMR or ESD is impossible.