Short-term outcomes for laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for body mass index ≥30 patients with gastric cancer

BackgroundObesity is known to be a preoperative risk factor for gastric cancer surgery. This study aimed to investigate the influence of obesity on the surgical outcomes of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for gastric cancer.MethodsThe clinical data of 131 patients with gastric cancer from January 2010–December 2013 were analyzed retrospectively. Perioperative outcomes were compared between 43 patients with a body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m2 (obese group) and 88 patients with a BMI <30 kg/m2 (nonobese group) who underwent LADG.ResultsOperation times were significantly longer for the obese group than for the nonobese group (234.1 ± 57.2 min versus 212.2 ± 43.5 min, P = 0.026). There were no statistically significant differences between two groups in terms of intraoperative blood loss, the number of retrieved lymph nodes, postoperative recovery, and postoperative complications (P > 0.05). During the follow-up period of 5 mo–49 mo (average, 36 mo), the overall survival rates were not significantly different between the two groups (80.0% [32/40] versus 81.9% [68/83], P > 0.05). The differences in recurrence and metastasis between the two groups were not statistically significant.ConclusionsOur analysis revealed that LADG can be safely performed in patients with BMI ≥30. The procedure was considered to be difficult but sufficiently feasible.