Why is laparoscopy used for gastric cancer surgery?

  With the popularization of minimally invasive technology, especially laparoscopy, and the widespread use of high definition laparoscopy, the application of laparoscopic technology for radical resection of partially progressive gastric cancer has become routine in some large medical centers, but due to the high end of this technology and the fact that only a small number of gastrointestinal surgeons have mastered it, the percentage of patients who have access to this technology for radical resection of gastric cancer is still small, and There are still some questions among clinicians and patients; can minimally invasive laparoscopic technology cut clean the tumor with only a hole in the abdominal wall? Isn’t minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery just a smaller incision? So much so that some patients give up using minimally invasive laparoscopic technology for gastric cancer surgery. In fact, it is not!  Minimally invasive laparoscopic technique for radical gastric cancer surgery not only has the advantage of small incision (about 5cm), but also performs radical gastric cancer surgery under high-definition laparoscopic view, especially the ultrasonic knife is used for tissue cutting, separation and hemostasis during surgery, which makes the operation field highly clear, and the blood vessels around the stomach are very cleanly naked for the purpose of lymph node clearance. Our team has performed 450 cases of laparoscopic radical surgery for gastric cancer since 2010, and we conclude that: 1. The number of lymph nodes cleared in laparoscopic radical surgery for gastric cancer is more than that of previous open surgery, and it can completely achieve the purpose of radical treatment.  2. The amount of surgical bleeding is positively correlated with the stage of tumor, but the overall bleeding is significantly less than that of open surgery, with an average of 30 ml. 3. With the continuous improvement of technology, the operation time for radical surgery of gastric cancer using laparoscopic technique is definitely not longer than that of open surgery, with an average of about 2.5 hours.  4. The postoperative recovery speed of laparoscopic radical gastric cancer patients is significantly shorter than that of open surgery. Recently, we have carried out 3D laparoscopic radical surgery for gastric cancer; its three-dimensional field of view and high-definition magnification not only meet the surgeon’s need for fine naked perigastric vessels under the mirror, but also make the relationship between organs and vessels more clearly distinguishable. It was an artistic performance.  Of course, to perform radical gastric cancer surgery with laparoscopic technology, not only high-end laparoscopic equipment is required, but also the preoperative assessment of the patient’s condition by the surgeon in charge and the solid experience of previous open surgery for radical gastric cancer surgery.