Robotic gastrectomy for gastric cancer does not cut postop infections

(HealthDay)—Robotic gastrectomy (RG) does not reduce intra-abdominal infectious complications compared with laparoscopic gastrectomy (LG) for gastric cancer, according to a study published online Sept. 1 in JAMA Surgery.

Toshiyasu Ojima, M.D., Ph.D., from Wakayama Medical University in Japan, and colleagues compared the short-term surgical outcomes of RG to those of LG for patients with resectable gastric cancer. The analysis included 236 randomly assigned patients.

The researchers observed no significant difference in the incidence of intra-abdominal infectious complications (8.5 percent in the LG group versus 6.2 percent in the RG group). Two LG patients converted to open surgery, while four RG patients converted from RG to open or laparoscopic surgery. The LG group had a significantly higher overall incidence of postoperative complications of grade II or higher versus the RG group (19.7 versus 8.8 percent). The complication rate was still significantly higher in the LG group even when limiting the analysis to grade IIIa or higher (16.2 versus 5.3 percent).

"Robotic gastrectomy did not change the rate of intra-abdominal infections but performed better in other outcomes," the authors write.