Hand-assisted laparoscopic versus laparoscopy-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy: a prospective study.

Backgroud: The feasibility and safety of Hand-assisted laparoscopic D2 radical gastrectomy (HALG) have been seldom reported, also, benefits and outcomes are not defined.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive and in-depth comparative analysis of the general information, the intraoperative data and postoperative data in the Group HALG and the Group laparoscopy-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy (LAG).

Results: The general data of HALG and LAG were no differences (P > 0.05); the blood loss and unexpected injury were similar(P > 0.05); the operative time, the incision length, the number of lymph nodes recovered, the rate of procedure conversion, the amount of postoperative complications, and the length of postoperative hospital stay of Group HALG were prior to that of Group LAG(P < 0.05); there were no differences for the pain score after day 2, the recovery time of intestinal function, the rate of reoperation, the 30-day hospital and readmission rate(P > 0.05); and there were significant linear correlations between the length of postoperative hospital stay and the operative time for both groups(P = 0.00).

Conclusion: Compared with LAG, HALG had similar features of being minimally invasive and radical in treating gastric cancers, and HALG was safer than LAG.