Omentum-preserving gastrectomy for early gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
The omentum has variable functions in surgical procedures. Nevertheless, there is very little information about the effect of omentum on abdominal complications after gastrectomy. The purpose of the present study was to determine the outcome of omentum-preserving gastrectomy for early gastric cancer.


METHODS
We evaluated 1,116 patients who had a gastrectomy for early gastric cancer between the years 2004 and 2006; 992 patients underwent conventional gastrectomy (CG), and 124 patients had an omentum-preserving gastrectomy (OPG). These cases were analyzed retrospectively. The early and late abdominal complications were compared between the CG and OPG groups.


RESULTS
The results of the study show no significant differences between the early abdominal complications in the CG and OPG groups. However, the late abdominal complication rate in the OPG was significantly lower than the CG (p = 0.026). The most common risk factor associated with early abdominal complications was type of operation. The combination of CG and early abdominal complication represented a statistically significant risk for late abdominal complications (p = 0.026, 0.031 respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
The findings of this study demonstrate that the omentum-preserving gastrectomy in the treatment of early gastric cancer showed a lower rate of abdominal complications compared to the conventional gastrectomy.
Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea.
Tae Kyung
TK
Ha
Ji Yeong
JY
An
Ho Geun
HG
Youn
Jae Hyung
JH
Noh
Tae Sung
TS
Sohn
Sung
S
Kim
D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009852:Omentum / Q000601:surgery*; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome