title: [Study on the application of laparoscopy-assisted radical gastrectomy for gastric cancer in the elderly].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy for elderly patients with gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  From October 2007 to October 2012, 233 gastric cancer patients over 65 years underwent D2 lymph node dissection. Among them, 109 patients underwent laparoscopy-assisted radical gastrectomy(LAG group), while 124 patients underwent conventional open gastrectomy(OG group).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared to the OG group, LAG group was associated with less bleeding [(102.5±34.3) ml vs. (181.7±73.8) ml, P<0.05], quicker postoperative recovery of bowel function[(2.8±0.6) d vs. (4.0±1.2) d, P<0.05], shorter postoperative length of hospital stay[(10.7±7.5) d vs.(14.2±6.5) d, P<0.05], longer operative time [(231.2±51.4) min vs. (208.5±53.6) min, P<0.05]. The postoperative complication rate of LAG group and OG group was 10.1%(11/109) and 21.0%(26/124) respectively(P<0.05). Short-term quality of life of LAG group was better than that of OG group(P<0.05). The 5-year survival rates were 54.5% and 59.2% in LAG and OG groups respectively, and there was no significant difference(P>0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted D2 radical gastrectomy is similar to open gastrectomy in elderly gastric cancer patients with less invasiveness.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Huaihe Hospital, Henan University, Henan Kaifeng 475000, China. hhyyrxq@126.com.
authors.forename: Jun-hong
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: De-sheng
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Shi-jie
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chen-yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Xue-qun
authors.initials: XQ
authors.lastname: Ren
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005743:Gastrectomy; D006801:Humans; D010535:Laparoscopy; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011788:Quality of Life; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate; D016896:Treatment Outcome