Surgical outcomes and prognosis of intracorporeal versus extracorporeal esophagojejunostomy after laparoscopic total gastrectomy for gastric cancer: a propensity score-matching study.

This study compared the surgical outcomes and long-term prognosis of intracorporeal and extracorporeal esophagojejunostomy after laparoscopic total gastrectomy (LTG) for gastric cancer patients. In total 228 clinical stage I gastric cancer patients undergoing LTG were enrolled from January 2012 and December 2022. Each case in the totally laparoscopic total gastrectomy (TLTG) group was 1:1 propensity score-matched to control cases in the laparoscopy-assisted total gastrectomy (LATG) group. In total, 95 and 93 LATG and TLTG patients were included after propensity score matching (PSM). Clinicopathological features, surgical outcomes, and survival variables were compared, and risk factors for postoperative complications were analyzed. Patient characteristics were well balanced between the LATG and TLTG groups after PSM. The TLTG group showed less blood loss, decreased frequency of analgesic use, and shorter duration of analgesic use. The TLTG group had significantly lower rates of intestinal obstruction and surgical site infection. Larger tumor size and advanced pTNM stage were independent risk factors for postoperative complications. There was no significant difference in overall survival (OS). Compared with LATG, TLTG was associated with better surgical outcomes and fewer postoperative surgical complications in gastric cancer patients although there was no significant difference in OS.