Laparoscopic minilaparotomy Billroth I gastrectomy with extraperigastric lymphadenectomy for early gastric cancer using an abdominal wall-lifting method.

Laparoscopic gastrectomy with extraperigastric lymphadenectomy for early gastric cancer has never been performed because of technical difficulties attributable to the lack of appropriate techniques, the high cost of laparoscopic instruments, and the need for numerous disposable stapling devices. In order to solve these problems, we have designed a method of laparoscopic minilaparotomy using an abdominal wall-lifting method, and a patient with early gastric cancer (depth of submucosa) underwent by this laparoscopic minilaparotomy distal gastrectomy with extraperigastric lymphadenectomy. During his postoperative recovery, the patient requested no narcotic analgesic, and was discharged on postoperative day 14.