East meets West: the initial results of laparoscopic gastric cancer resections with Eastern principles in a single Western centre - a propensity score-matched study.

BACKGROUND: We compared the initial experience of totally laparoscopic gastric cancer surgery with Eastern principles with the results of propensity score-matched counterparts operated with open surgery.

METHODS: From 1163 patients stored in our database, 62 PSM patients were selected for this study. The quality control was assured with video documentation and standardisation of the procedures.

RESULTS: According to the distribution of age, comorbidities, and general health, patients in the LG and OG were well-balanced. Most of the patients in both groups had advanced gastric cancer (69.3%). In the OG, 67.8% of patients received a total gastrectomy, as well as 54.8% of patients in the LG. There was no significant difference in the postoperative mortality between groups. The recovery of bowel function was significantly faster, and postoperative pain was significantly decreased in the LG. Compared to the OG, the inflammatory response was significantly smaller in the LG. There was no significant difference in the overall survival between LG and OG patients.

CONCLUSION: We have shown that laparoscopic gastrectomy with Eastern principles can be safely introduced in a high-volume Western centre with sufficient laparoscopic training. We have also shown that laparoscopy offers a significant faster bowel function recovery, less postoperative pain, and a smaller inflammatory response.