Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of laparoscopy- assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer.
Methods: Literature search was performed in Pubmed, Medline, EMBASE, the Chinese Biomedical Database (CBM) to identify controlled trials comparing LADG and open distal gastrectomy (ODG) for gastric cancer published between January 2005 and February 2010. A meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.0 software.
Results: Seven controlled trials were included. One trail was randomized controlled trial. Compared to ODG, LADG had less blood loss[WMD: -132.04, 95% confidence interval (CI): -207.32 to -56.77], earlier postoperative first flatus (WMD: -0.82, 95% CI: -1.20 to -0.45], less complications [odds ratio (OR): 0.45, 95% CI: 0.26 to 0.78], shorter postoperative hospital stay (WMD: -3.63, 95% CI: -4.19 to -3.07), more harvested lymph nodes (WMD: 1.93, 95%CI: 0.36 to 3.50). There were no significant differences between the two groups in recurrence rate, metastasis rate, mortality and survival rate.
Conclusion: Short-term outcome of LADG with D2 lymph node dissection for gastric cancer is superior to ODG.