Treatment Results of Small Intestinal Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumors Less than 10 cm in Diameter: A Comparison between Laparoscopy and Open Surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the technical feasibility and oncologic safety, we assessed the short-term and long-term outcomes of laparoscopic resection of the small bowel gastrointestinal stromal tumors smaller than 5 cm by comparing those of open surgery by subgroup analysis based on tumor size.


METHODS
From November 1993 to January 2011, 41 laparoscopic resections were performed among the 95 patients who underwent resection of small intestine ≤10 cm in diameter. The clinicopathologic features, perioperative outcomes, recurrences and survival of these patients were reviewed.


RESULTS
The postoperative morbidity rates were comparable between the 2 groups. Laparoscopic surgery group showed significantly shorter operative time (P=0.004) and duration of postoperative hospital stay (P<0.001) than open surgery group and it was more apparent in the smaller tumor size group. There were no difference in 5-year survival for the laparoscopic surgery versus open surgery groups (P=0.163), and in 5-year recurrence-free survival (P=0.262). The subgroup analysis by 5 cm in tumor size also shows no remarkable differences in 5-year survival and recurrence-free survival.


CONCLUSIONS
Laparoscopic resection for small bowel gastrointestinal stromal tumors of size less than 10 cm has favorable short-term postoperative outcomes, while achieving comparable oncologic results compared with open surgery. Thus, laparoscopic approach can be recommended as a treatment modality for patients with small bowel gastrointestinal stromal tumors less than 10 cm in diameter.
Department of Surgery, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Kyong
K
Ihn
Woo Jin
WJ
Hyung
Hyoung-Il
HI
Kim
Ji Yeong
JY
An
Jong Won
JW
Kim
Jae-Ho
JH
Cheong
Dong Sup
DS
Yoon
Seung Ho
SH
Choi
Sung Hoon
SH
Noh
Gastrointestinal stromal tumors; Intestine, small; Laparoscopy