Laparoscopically assisted resections of small bowel stromal tumors are safe and effective

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of laparoscopically assisted and open resections in treatment of small bowel stromal tumors (SBST). METHODS: A retrospective study of 85 patients who underwent curative resections for SBST (38 by laparoscopically assisted procedures and 47 by open procedures) was performed. RESULTS: There were no differences between open and laparoscopically assisted approaches in terms of patients' age, gender, presenting symptoms, histological risk or extent of resection (P > 0.05). The median tumor size for laparoscopically assisted resections was 4.0 cm (range 1.2-7.0 cm), which was the same as that for the open resections (range 2.0-10.0 cm). There were fewer complications in the laparoscopic group than those in the open resection group (7.9% vs 17.0%), but no significant difference was observed (P > 0.05). The 2-year survival of the two patient groups was almost the same (86.8% vs 89.4%). Laparoscopically assisted procedures required on average 22.5 min less of operating time (87.5 min vs 110.0 min, P = 0.006), 1.0 day less of bowel recovery time (3.0 days vs 4.0 days, P = 0.001) and 5.0 days less in hospital stay (8.0 days vs 13.0 days, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopically assisted resection of SBST is a safe alternative to open resection.