OBJECTIVETo investigate the feasibility and efficacy of clockwise modularized lymphadenectomy in laparoscopic gastrectomy for gastric cancer.

METHODSClinical data of 19 cases who underwent the laparoscopic clockwise modularized lymphadenectomy for gastric cancer (clockwise group) from July 2016 to September 2016 were analyzed retrospectively. The clockwise modularized lymphadenectomy included the fixed operative order, detailed procedure and requirement of lymphadenectomy, which mainly reflected in assisting the exposure of operative field and dissection of lymph nodes through suspending the liver and banding the greater omentum, as well as proposing the requirements and attentions for the dissections of each station of lymph nodes to facilitate the quality control of lymphadenectomy. The operative time, intraoperative complications, intraoperative estimate blood loss, number of total harvested lymph nodes, morbidity and postoperative recovery, were compared with the data of another 19 cases who received traditional lymphadenectomy from January 2016 to June 2016 (control group).

RESULTSThe baseline data were comparable between two groups. All the patients were performed successfully by laparoscopy without conversion and intraoperative complications. The operative time, intraoperative estimated blood loss and number of total harvested lymph node were (278.4±29.9) min, (91.1±41.6) ml and 38.2±15.1 in clockwise group, and were (296.7±30.3) min, (102.2±32.2) ml and 37.0±12.3 in control group without significant differences (all P>0.05). However, the mean number of retrieved No.11p lymph nodes was 2.2±1.8 in clockwise group, which was significantly higher than that in control group (0.8±1.0) (P=0.013). Four patients in each group suffered from pulmonary infections, who were cured by conservative therapies. There was no anastomotic leakage, intraperitoneal hemorrhage, intraperitoneal infection or intestinal obstruction in each group.

CONCLUSIONThe clockwise modularized lymphadenectomy can contribute to the facilitation of the retraction and exposure, decrease of the surgical duration and intraoperative blood loss, and radicalization of lymph node dissection, especially for the lymph nodes dissection around the celiac trunk.