Short-term outcomes of laparoscopic local resection for gastric submucosal tumors: a single-center experience of 266 patients

Background: Laparoscopic resections for submucosal tumors (SMTs) of the stomach have been developed rapidly over the past decade. Several types of laparoscopic methods for gastric SMTs have been created. We assessed the short-term outcomes of two commonly used types of laparoscopic local resection (LLR) for gastric SMTs and reported our findings. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the clinicopathological results of 266 patients with gastric SMTs whom underwent LLR between January 2006 and September 2016. 228 of these underwent laparoscopic exogastric wedge resection (LEWR), the remaining 38 patients with the tumors near the esophagogastric junction (EGJ) or antrum underwent laparoscopic transgastric resection (LTR). Results: All the patients underwent laparoscopic resections successfully. The mean operation times of LEWR and LTR were 90.2 +/- 37.2 min and 101.7 +/- 38.5 min respectively. The postoperative length of hospital stays for LEWR and LTR were 5.1 +/- 2.1 days and 5.3 +/- 1.7 days respectively. There was a low complication rate (4.4%) and zero mortality in our series. Conclusion: ELWR is technically feasible therapy of gastric SMTs. LTR is secure and effective for gastric intraluminal SMTs located near the EGJ or antrum.