Minimally invasive surgery experienced a rapid development in the past thirty years, of which the laparoscopy has been widely used in gastrointestinal surgery. Lymph node dissection is one of the difficulties of laparoscopic radical resection of gastric cancer. The lymph node dissection along the left gastroepiploic vessels is a difficult part, which usually causes bleeding and splenic injury. This article mainly introduce the indications, contraindications, surgical preparations, the difficulties and techniques during the lymph nodes dissection when the operator stood on the left side of the patients, and perioperative complications of lymph nodes dissection along the left gastroepiploic vessels.

Objective:To investigate the short-term outcomes of totally robotic surgical system and robotic surgical system assisted radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer.Methods:The retrospective cohort study was conducted. The clinicopathological data of 290 patients who under-went robotic surgical system radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University from January 2018 to November 2021 were collected. There were 208 males and 82 females, aged 58 (range, 24?84)years. Of the 290 patients, 125 patients undergoing totally robotic surgical system radical gastrectomy combined with reconstruction of digestive tract were divided into the totally robot group, and 165 patients undergoing robotic surgical system radical gastrectomy combined with a small midline incision-assisted reconstruction of digestive tract were divided into the robotic-assisted group. Observation indicators: (1) surgical and postoperative situations; (2) postoperative complications. Measurement data with normal distribution were represented as Mean± SD, and comparison between groups was conducted using the t test. Measurement data with skewed distribution were represented as M(range), and comparison between groups was conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test. Comparison of ordinal data was conducted using the non-parameter rank sum test. Count data were described as absolute numbers, and comparison between groups was conducted using the chi-square test or Fisher exact probability. Results:(1) Surgical and postoperative situations. The operation time, volume of intraoperative blood loss, length of incision, duration of postoperative analgesic using, time to postoperative gastric tube removal, time to postoperative initial water intake, time to postoperative first anal flatus, duration of post-operative hospital stay were (246±43)minutes, (104±51)mL, 4(range, 3?6)cm, (2.2±0.5)days, 36(range, 10?112)hours, 62(range, 32?205)hours, 63(range, 18?138)hours, 8(range, 6?50)days in patients of the totally robot group, versus (296±59)minutes, (143±87)mL, 6(range, 3?13)cm, (3.6±0.7)days, 42(range, 12?262)hours, 90(range, 18?262)hours, 80(range, 16?295)hours, 9(range, 6?63)days in patients of the robotic-assisted group, showing significant differences in the above indicators between the two groups ( t=8.04, 4.42, Z=?13.98, t=18.46, Z=?5.47, ?5.87, ?6.14, ?4.04, P<0.05). (2) Post-operative complications. Cases with systemic related complications and cases with pulmonary infection were 7 and 4 in patients of the totally robot group, versus 31 and 16 in patients of the robotic-assisted group, showing significant differences in the above indicators between the two groups ( χ2=10.86, 4.68, P<0.05). Further analysis showed that there were significant differences in age ≥60 years, body mass index ≥25 kg/m 2, tumor diameter ≥3 cm, TNM staging as stage Ⅲ of cases with postoperative complications between the totally robot group and the robotic-assisted group ( odds ratio=0.44, 0.17, 0.40, 0.31, 95 confidence interval as 0.20?1.00, 0.03?0.88, 0.18?0.89, 0.11?0.84, P<0.05). Conclusion:Totally robotic surgical system radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer is safe and feasible with advantages of minimal trauma and quick recovery, especially for patients as age ≥60 years, body mass index ≥25 kg/cm 2, tumor diameter ≥3 cm and TNM stage Ⅲ in complication controlling.