Early experience of duet laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (duet-LDG) using three abdominal ports for gastric carcinoma: surgical technique and comparison with conventional laparoscopic distal gastrectomy

Reduced port laparoscopic surgery may lead to less pain and better cosmetic outcome than conventional surgery. Also, it requires fewer assistants and abdominal ports. Recently, some experts have reported operative techniques and outcomes of reduced port laparoscopic gastrectomy. In this study, we sought to introduce our techniques of duet laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (duet-LDG) using three abdominal ports and surgical outcomes of early experience of this procedure. Between 2010 and 2014, 431 patients undergoing LDG for gastric carcinoma were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, 49 patients underwent duet-LDG. During duet-LDG, an operator performed all the procedures using two abdominal ports with an additional umbilical laparoscopy port. Short-term surgical outcomes of duet-LDG were compared with conventional LDG groups. The mean age of the duet-LDG group was 61.1 years with 38 males and 11 females. Forty patients underwent Billroth II, and 9 patients underwent Roux-en-Y reconstruction. The mean operating time was 147 min, and the mean intraoperative blood loss was 49 ml. Duet-LDG was successfully completed without intraoperative complications or open conversion in all patients. After an operation, six patients (12.2 %) developed postoperative complications, and no mortality occurred. The mean hospital stay was 8.6 days. When compared with the conventional LDG groups, patients who underwent duet-LDG showed no significant differences in short-term surgical outcomes including morbidity, mortality, and the duration of hospital stay. Duet-LDG is a viable alternative to conventional LDG for treating early gastric carcinoma providing comparable surgical outcomes. Less operative pain and scar, reduced medical cost, and requiring fewer assistants may benefit patients as well as surgeons. Finally, the efficacy of duet-LDG needs to be evaluated in diverse clinical aspects.