BACKGROUND

Surgical resection with a free margin is considered the gold standard for the treatment of gastric gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Previous studies about the advantages of laparoscopic resection versus open surgery have generally been non-randomized and retrospective and have some obvious shortcomings that could influence the veracity and reliability of the results. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of laparoscopic resection in the treatment of gastric GISTs using the propensity score matching (PSM) method.

METHODS

Between 2005 and 2014, 217 consecutive patients undergoing laparoscopic or open resection for gastric GISTs were enrolled in a retrospective, single-center study. Patient and tumor characteristics, intraoperative and postoperative characteristics, and oncologic outcomes were collected from a database. The efficacy of the laparoscopic approach was analyzed using the PSM method by comparing the clinical parameters of patients who underwent laparoscopic (LAP) and open resection (OPEN) procedures.

RESULTS

After PSM, 88 patients involved in the analysis (44 LAP vs. 44 OPEN) were randomly matched (1:1) by tumor size, localization, disease course, body mass index, age, and gender. The LAP group was clearly superior to the open group in terms of intraoperative indicators and postoperative short-term efficacy. The incidence of postoperative complications in the LAP group was lower than in the OPEN group (4.5 vs. 18.2 %, P = 0.044). A survival analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the disease-free survival time between the two groups (χ  = 0.211, P = 0.646).

CONCLUSION

These data should be processed using the PSM method in a non-randomized controlled trial (non-RCT) study. It is safe and feasible for patients with gastric GISTs up to 5 cm in size or located in the gastroesophageal junction to be treated with laparoscopic surgery.