Background: Few studies have been designed to evaluate the short-term outcomes between robotic-assisted total gastrectomy (RATG) and laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) for advanced gastric cancer (AGC). The purpose of this study was to assess the short-term outcomes of RATG compared with LATG for AGC. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated 126 and 257 patients who underwent RATG or LATG, respectively. In addition, we performed propensity score matching (PSM) analysis between RATG and LATG for clinicopathological characteristics to reduce bias and compared short-term surgical outcomes. Results: After PSM, the RATG group had a longer mean operation time (291.14 ± 59.18 vs. 270.34 ± 52.22 min, p = 0.003), less intraoperative bleeding (154.37 ± 89.68 vs. 183.77 ± 95.39 ml, p = 0.004) and more N2 tier RLNs (9.07 ± 5.34 vs. 7.56 ± 4.50, p = 0.016) than the LATG group. Additionally, the total RLNs of the RATG group were almost significantly different compared to that of the LATG group (34.90 ± 13.05 vs. 31.91 ± 12.46, p = 0.065). Moreover, no significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of the length of incision, proximal resection margin, distal resection margin, residual disease and postoperative hospital stay. There was no significant difference in the overall complication rate between the RATG and LATG groups after PSM (23.8% vs. 28.6%, p = 0.390). Grade II complications accounted for most of the complications in the two cohorts after PSM. The conversion rates were 4.55 and 8.54% in the RATG and LATG groups, respectively, with no significant difference (p = 0.145), and the ratio of splenectomy were 1.59 and 0.39% (p = 0.253). The mortality rates were 0.8 and 0.4% for the RATG and LATG groups, respectively (p = 1.000). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that RATG is comparable to LATG in terms of short-term surgical outcomes.

Background The potential advantages of laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) compared with open gastrectomy (OG) for Siewert type II/III adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) have not been fully clarified. The aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of LG for Siewert type II/III AEG, compared with OG. Methods A comprehensive search was performed in various medical databases up to December 30, 2018. Seven non-randomized controlled trials comparing LG and OG for Siewert type II/III AEG were included. Outcomes evaluated including operation time, estimated blood loss, number of retrieved lymph nodes (LNs), post-operation complications, postoperative hospital stay, time to first flatus, time to ambulation, and overall survival (OS). Results Seven studies of 1915 patients were included for meta-analysis. The estimated blood loss [weighted mean difference (WMD) = − 77.49, 95%CI − 111.84 to − 43.15; P < 0.00001] was significantly less and the postoperative hospital stay (WMD = − 1.98, 95%CI − 2.14 to − 1.83; P < 0.00001) was significantly shorter in the LG group than in the OG group, while the operation time, number of retrieved LNs, time to first flatus, and time to ambulation showed no significant difference between LG and OG groups. The overall postoperative complications [odds ratio (OR) 0.78, 95%CI 0.60-1.02; P = 0.07] in LG group were less than those in OG group, although the difference was not significant between the two groups. ConclusionLG can achieve short-term surgical outcomes comparable to OG, with respect to safety and efficiency in treatment of Siewert type II/III AEG.

Background Few studies have been designed to evaluate the short-term outcomes for advanced gastric cancer (AGC) between robotic-assisted total gastrectomy (RATG) and laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) alone. The purpose of this study was to assess short-term outcomes of RATG compared with LATG for AGC.Methods We retrospectively evaluated 116 and 244 patients who underwent RATG or LATG respectively. Besides, we performed a propensity score matching (PSM) analysis between RATG and LATG for clinicopathological characteristics to reduce bias and compared short-term surgical outcomes.Results After PSM, the RTAG group had longer mean operation time (291.09±58.41 vs. 271.99±48.41min, p=0.007), less intraoperative bleeding (151.98±92.83 vs. 172.59±97.01ml, p=0.032) and more N2 tier RLNs (9.33±5.46 vs. 7.50±3.86, p=0.018) than the LATG group. Besides, the total RLNs of RATG was at the brink of significance compared to LATG (35.09±12.93 vs.32.34±12.05, p=0.062). However, no significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of length of incision, proximal resection margin, distal resection margin, postoperative hospital stay. The conversion rate was 4.92% and 8.61% in the RATG and LATG groups, respectively, with no significant difference. The ratio of splenectomy was 1.7% and 0.4% respectively. There was no significant difference in overall complication rate between RATG and LATG groups before PSM (24.1% vs. 28.7%; p=0.341) and after PSM (24.1% vs. 33.6%; p=0.102). The grade II complications accounted for most of all complications in the two cohorts both before and after PSM.Conclusion This study demonstrates that RATG is comparable to LATG in terms of short-term surgical outcomes.