Laparoscopic-assisted vs open transhiatal gastrectomy for Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction: A retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND The studies of laparoscopic-assisted transhiatal gastrectomy (LTG) in patients with Siewert type II adenocarcinoma of the esophagogastric junction (AEG) are scarce. AIM To compare the surgical efficiency of LTG with the open transhiatal gastrectomy (OTG) for patients with Siewert type II AEG. METHODS We retrospectively evaluated a total of 578 patients with Siewert type II AEG who have undergone LTG or OTG at the First Medical Center of the Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital from January 2014 to December 2019. The short-term and long-term outcomes were compared between the LTG (n = 382) and OTG (n = 196) groups. RESULTS Compared with the OTG group, the LTG group had a longer operative time but less blood loss, shorter length of abdominal incision and an increased number of harvested lymph nodes (P < 0.05). Patients in the LTG group were able to eat liquid food, ambulate, expel flatus and discharge sooner than the OTG group (P < 0.05). No significant differences were found in postoperative complications and R0 resection. The 3-year overall survival and disease-free survival performed better in the LTG group compared with that in the OTG group (88.2% vs 79.2%, P = 0.011; 79.7% vs 73.0%, P = 0.002, respectively). In the stratified analysis, both overall survival and disease-free survival were better in the LTG group than those in the OTG group for stage II/III patients (P < 0.05) but not for stage I patients. CONCLUSION For patients with Siewert type II AEG, LTG is associated with better short-term outcomes and similar oncology safety. In addition, patients with advanced stage AEG may benefit more from LTG in the long-term outcomes.