title: A Randomized Controlled Trial of Vagus Nerve-preserving Distal Gastrectomy Versus Conventional Distal Gastrectomy for Postoperative Quality of Life in Early Stage Gastric Cancer Patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the postoperative quality of life of vagus nerve preserving distal gastrectomy (VPG) vs conventional distal gastrectomy (CG) in patients with early-stage gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled clinical trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Large tertiary comprehensive cancer center in Korea.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred sixty-three patients with early gastric cancer 18 years of age or older expected to undergo curative gastric resection.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were randomized 1:1 to VPG (n = 85) or CG (n = 78).
  
  
  METHODS
  European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) gastric module (STO22).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients assigned to VPG showed less diarrhea 3 and 12 months after surgery (P = 0.040 and 0.048, respectively) and less appetite loss at 12 months (P = 0.011) compared with those assigned to CG. In both groups, fatigue, anxiety, eating restriction, and body image deteriorated at 3 months after surgery and did not regain baseline levels 12 months after surgery. There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in cancer recurrence and death over 5 years of follow-up.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Early gastric cancer patients undergoing VPG reported significantly less diarrhea and appetite loss at 12 months postsurgery compared with those undergoing CG, with no differences in long-term clinical outcomes. VPG may improve the quality of life after gastrectomy in early gastric cancer patients compared with CG.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Surgery, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea†Cancer Education Center, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Department of Health Sciences and Technology, SAIHST, Sungkyunkwan University, Seoul, Korea‡Departments of Epidemiology and Health, Behavior and Society, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD§Department of Surgery, National Police Hospital, Seoul, Korea¶Department of Nursing, Samsung Medical Center, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Su Mi
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Juhee
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Danbee
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Seung Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Oh
authors.forename: Ae Ran
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Tae Sung
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Sohn
authors.forename: Jae Hyoung
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Noh
authors.forename: Sung
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D003710:Demography; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology; D011788:Quality of Life; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000601:surgery*