Laparoscopic total gastrectomy for advanced gastric cancer in a patient with situs inversus totalis

Abstract

Situs inversus totalis (SIT) is a rare congenital anomaly. Generally, laparoscopic surgery is difficult to perform in patients with SIT because of both the potential challenges associated with unexpected vascular anomalies and the lack of standardized strategy for handling such cases. This is the first report of laparoscopic total gastrectomy with lymph node dissection for advanced gastric cancer in a patient with SIT. A 79-year-old man with SIT was diagnosed with advanced gastric cancer. We performed laparoscopic total gastrectomy with modified D2 lymph node dissection (D2 without splenectomy) and esophagojejunal anastomosis using an overlap method involving retrocolic Roux-en-Y reconstruction. The total operating time was 232 min, and blood loss was 110 mL. There were no postoperative complications. In summary, laparoscopic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer can be performed safely, even in a patient with SIT.

Keywords: Gastric cancer; laparoscopic total gastrectomy; situs inversus totalis.