OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility of segmental pylorus-reservation gastrectomy in patients with early gastric cancer.

METHODA retrospective cohort study on clinical data of 6 patients strictly met the criteria of early gastric cancer locating in the middle of the stomach undergoing laparoscopic segmental gastrectomy from January 2014 to April 2016 at Department of General Surgery, Peking Union Medical College Hospital was carried out. Preoperative clinical staging revealed T1N0M0 for all the cases. One case received endoscopic mucosa resection(EMR) first, and postoperative pathology showed moderate differentiated adenocarcinoma invading substratum of mucosa, so a complementary laparoscopic segmental gastrectomy was performed. Surgical procedure was laparoscopic segmental gastrectomy with D1 or D2 lymph node dissection. Vagus nerve was not reserved during lymph node dissection in lesser curvature side. Number of resected lymph node, postoperative complication and long-term gastric function were observed.

RESULTOf 6 cases, 3 were male and 3 were female with age ranging from 55 to 59 years old. The distal resection margin was (4.6±0.5) cm away from pylorus. The average number of resected lymph node was 18.3±7.5 without metastasis. Follow-up time was 1 to 29 months for all the 6 cases and no relapse or metastasis was found during the follow-up. In 4 cases with follow-up beyond 1 year, 3 cases had slight distension in superior belly after meal and dyspepsia; another one case had vomiting nocturnal occasionally. Gastroscope examination one year after operation found food residue in all the cases. Images indicated the decrease of stomach size in all the cases. Two cases had esophagogastric reflux. All the patients had delayed gastric emptying symptoms after operations and were relieved within one year.

CONCLUSIONSIt is technically feasible to perform laparoscopic segmental gastrectomy in patients with early gastric cancer. Whether vagus nerve should be reserved requires further investigation.