title: [Comparison of complications following open, laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomy].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare clinically relevant postoperative complications after open, laparoscopic, and robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  Clinical data of patients with gastric cancer who underwent gastrectomy between January 1, 2014 and October 1, 2016 at Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital were analyzed retrospectively. All the patients were diagnosed by upper endoscopy and confirmed by biopsy without distant metastasis. They were confirmed with R0 resection by postoperative pathology. Patients with incomplete data were excluded. The complications among open group, laparoscopic group and robotic group were compared. The continuous variables were analyzed by one-way ANOVA, and categorical variables were analyzed by χ2test or Fisher exact test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1 791 patients (1 320 males and 471 females) were included in the study, aged from 17 to 98 (59.0±11.6) years, comprising 922 open, 673 laparoscopic and 196 robotic gastrectomies. There were no significant differences among three groups in baseline data (gender, age, BMI, comorbidity, radiochemotherapy) and some of operative or postoperative data (blood transfusion, number of lymph node dissection, combined organ resection, resection site, N stage, postoperative hospital stay). The blood loss in laparoscopic and robotic groups was significantly lower than that in open group[(185.7±139.6) ml and (194.0±187.6) ml vs. (348.2±408.5) ml, F=59.924, P=0.000]. The postoperative complication occurred in 197 of 1 791(11.0%) patients. The Clavien-Dindo II(, III(a, III(b, IIII(a, and IIIII( complications were 5.5%, 4.0%, 1.2%, 0.1%, and 0.2% respectively. The anastomotic leakage (2.4%), intestinal obstruction(1.3%) and pulmonary infection(1.2%) were the three most common complications, followed by wound infection(0.8%), cardiovascular disease(0.7%), anastomotic bleeding (0.7%), delayed gastric emptying (0.6%), duodenal stump fistula(0.5%), intraperitoneal hemorrhage (0.5%), pancreatic fistula (0.3%), intra-abdominal infection(0.2%), chylous leakage (0.1%) and other complications(1.7%). There were no significant differences among three groups as the complication rates of open, laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomy were 10.6%(98/922), 10.8%(73/673) and 13.3%(26/196) respectively (χ2=1.173, P=0.566). But anastomotic leakage occurred more common after laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomy compared to open gastrectomy [3.1%(21/673) and 5.1%(10/196) vs. 1.3%(12/922), χ2=12.345, P=0.002]. The rate of cardiocerebral vascular diseases was higher in open group[1.3%(12/922) vs. 0.1%(1/673) and 0, χ2=8.786, P=0.012]. And the rate of anastomotic bleeding was higher in robotic group [2.0%(4/196) vs. open 0.4%(4/922) and laparoscopic 0.6%(4/673), χ2=6.365, P=0.041]. In view of Clavien-Dindo classification, III(a complications occurred more common in laparoscopic group [5.5%(37/673) vs. open 3.3%(30/922) and robotic 2.6%(5/196), χ2=6.308, P=0.043] and III(b complications occurred more common in robotic group [3.1%(6/196) vs. open 1.1%(10/922) and laparoscopic 0.7%(5/673), χ2=7.167, P=0.028].
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Morbidities of postoperative complications are comparable among open, laparoscopic and robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer. However, in consideration of the high difficulty of anastomosis, the minimally invasive surgery should be performed by more experienced surgeons.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Hongqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.forename: Kecheng
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianxin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Mingsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 100853 Beijing, China. chenlinbj@vip.sina.com.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D057868:Anastomotic Leak / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002915:Chylous Ascites / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research; D004378:Duodenal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000379:methods*; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D018589:Gastroparesis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006465:Hemoperitoneum / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D007412:Intestinal Fistula / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D059413:Intraabdominal Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D010535:Laparoscopy / Q000009:adverse effects*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008197:Lymph Node Excision; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D065287:Robotic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D013530:Surgical Wound Infection / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology