Safety and efficacy of laparoscopic gastrectomy in obese patients with gastric cancer

The present study aimed to investigate the safety and short-term outcome of laparoscopy-assisted distal radical gastrectomy in treating gastric cancer among obese patients. Perioperative outcomes were compared between 67 gastric cancer patients with a body mass index (BMI) >= 25 kg/m(2) (obese group) and 198 ones with BMI <25 kg/m(2) (non-obese group). All the cases underwent laparoscopic radical resection between April 2009 and October 2013. The value of BMI was 27.3 +/- 2.67 kg/m(2) in the obese group and 21.3 +/- 2.64 kg/m(2) in non-obese group. There were no significant differences between 2 groups in age, sex, presence of diabetes, tumor size, number of metastatic lymph nodes, or metastatic lymph node ratio. Postoperative complications did not differ between the 2 groups (P > .05). There were significant differences between the 2 groups in operation time (non-obese: [234.2 +/- 67.1] minutes vs obese group: [259.4 +/- 78.5]; P = .017), postoperative hospital stay (obese group [19.7 +/- 14.8] day vs non-obese [15.4 +/- 7.1], P = .002), and retrieved lymph nodes ([27.6 +/- 11.0] day vs non-obese [31.9 +/- 12.5] day, P = .002). Obesity may prolong operation time and postoperative hospital stay, and cause less retrieved lymph nodes, but does not increase the incidence of postoperative complications. The experienced center can properly conduct laparoscopic assisted radical gastrectomy in obese patients.