A Novel Minimal Invasive Technique: Gasless Laparoscopy-Assisted Surgery

Due to the highly invasive nature of traditional surgery and the limitation of gas-filling laparoscopic surgery, we develop a new method of gasless laparoscopy-assisted surgery. From December 2004 to June 2008, 83 patients diagnosed with early gastric cancer underwent subtotal gastrectomy with standard radical lymph node dissection in our center. Thirty-seven patients received our gasless laparoscopy-assisted subtotal gastrectomy (GLASG), while the other 46 patients received traditional radical subtotal gastrectomy (TRSG). The number of lymph nodes at dissected were comparable between the two groups, but the operative time, the estimated blood loss, wound length, and days to first flatus, oral intake, and discharge were significantly less or fewer in the GLASG group. In conclusion, the newly developed gasless environment hybridizes the advantage of open and pure laparoscopic method. It may be a feasible and safe procedure for early gastric cancer.