Effect of hospital volume on long-term outcomes of laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer.
BACKGROUND
This study aimed to examine the effect of hospital volume on long-term outcomes of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer.


METHODS
A total of 420 patients with clinical stage I gastric cancer who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy at our university hospital (high-volume group) and affiliated hospitals (low-volume group) were included in this study. Overall survival (OS) and cause-specific survival (CSS) rates were analyzed.


RESULTS
No significant differences were observed in the number of lymph nodes retrieved (29.9 vs. 27.7, p=0.21) and CSS between the high- and low-volume groups (p=0.92), although the OS rate in the low-volume group was significantly less than that in the high-volume group (p=0.045).


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicate no clinical impact of hospital volume on prognosis of patients who underwent laparoscopic gastrectomy for clinical stage I gastric cancer when performed by surgeons with sufficient experience in open gastrectomy.
Division of Digestive Surgery, Department of Surgery, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, 465 Kajii-cho, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto 6028566, Japan. ichikawa@koto.kpu-m.ac.jp.
Daisuke
D
Ichikawa
Shuhei
S
Komatsu
Takeshi
T
Kubota
Kazuma
K
Okamoto
Katsuya
K
Deguchi
Hidemasa
H
Tamai
Takayoshi
T
Obayashi
Kazutomo
K
Kitagawa
Koji
K
Soga
Koji
K
Inoue
Nobuki
N
Yamaoka
Tsutomu
T
Imanishi
Akeo
A
Hagiwara
Eigo
E
Otsuji
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000401:mortality*; D061847:Hospitals, High-Volume; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000401:mortality*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D015996:Survival Rate
Hospital volume; laparoscopic gastrectomy; long-term outcome