Background: Various minimally invasive surgery (MIS) procedures are used for gastric submucosal tumors (SMTs), and their technical difficulties vary. Preoperative understanding of difficulties is crucial; however, objective indicators are lacking.
Methods: Gastric SMTs requiring MIS (n = 36) were retrospectively analyzed. Preoperative factors were evaluated using a multivariate linear regression analysis. A scoring system was then constructed, and its feasibility was evaluated.
Results: Three factors were identified and scored based on the weighted contribution for predicting surgical time: tumor location (cardia, score of "2"; posterior wall of fundus, "1"); tumor size (greater than 4 cm, "1"); and tumor growth appearance (intraluminal, "1"). The summed scores could stratify the surgical time stepwise in each score, and patients who scored higher than 3 had larger intraoperative blood loss and a longer hospital stay.
Conclusion: Our scoring system predicted surgical difficulties and may, therefore, be useful in selecting appropriate surgical approaches for gastric SMTs.
Keywords: Gastric submucosal tumor; Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST); Minimally invasive surgery; Surgical difficulty score.
Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.