Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jul 27, 2025; 17(7): 106311
Published online Jul 27, 2025. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.v17.i7.106311
Application of a glasses-free 3D laparoscopic system in radical gastrointestinal cancer surgery
Rong-Wei Shen, Wei Zhang
Rong-Wei Shen, School of Medicine, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Rong-Wei Shen, Wei Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, Digestive Disease Institute of Jiangsu University, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Shen RW participated in study design, data collection, and drafting of the manuscript; Zhang W was responsible for data analysis, interpretation of results, and critical revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported by 2022 Jiangsu Provincial Health Commission Elderly Health Research Program, No. LKM2022031.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of the Digestive Disease Institute of Jiangsu University, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University (Approval No. 22-01B-04).
Informed consent statement: Informed consent was provided to the subjects in the ethical review form.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: The data supporting the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Wei Zhang, Department of Gastroenterology, Digestive Disease Institute of Jiangsu University, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, No. 438 Jiefang Road, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China. 13401239720@163.com
Received: April 1, 2025
Revised: April 28, 2025
Accepted: May 21, 2025
Published online: July 27, 2025
Processing time: 113 Days and 2.6 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND

The clinical application of autostereoscopic (glass-free) 3D laparoscopic systems in the radical resection of gastrointestinal malignancies remains to be fully evaluated.

AIM

To compare the surgical outcomes and short-term postoperative complications between autostereoscopic (glass-free) 3D and glasses-based 3D laparoscopic systems in patients undergoing radical resection for gastric and colorectal malignancies.

METHODS

This retrospective study involved 165 patients (99 males, 66 females; median age: 63 years; range: 28-86 years) who underwent laparoscopic radical resection for gastrointestinal malignancies between October 2022 and May 2023. Patients were divided into naked-eye 3D groups (gastric cancer: n = 16; colorectal cancer: n = 19) and glasses-based 3D groups (gastric cancer: n = 52; colorectal cancer: n = 78). Surgical outcomes and 30-day postoperative complications were compared between the groups.

RESULTS

For gastric cancer patients, no significant differences in operation time [195 (169, 214) minutes vs 196 (173, 222) minutes], blood loss [20 (10, 90) mL vs 40 (20, 100) mL], or complication rates (12.5% vs 17.3%) were detected between the naked-eye 3D (n = 16) and glasses-based (n = 52) groups. Similarly, in colorectal cancer patients, comparable outcomes were achieved between groups, with postoperative complication rates of 15.8% and 14.1%, respectively. No conversion to open surgery was required in either group.

CONCLUSION

Preliminary evidence suggests that the autostereoscopic 3D laparoscopic system achieves comparable surgical outcomes to those of conventional glasses-based systems in the radical resection of gastrointestinal malignancies. Further large-scale studies are needed to validate these findings.

Keywords: Gastrointestinal neoplasms; Autostereoscopic 3D technology; Laparoscopic surgery; Surgical outcomes; Gastrointestinal cancer

Core Tip: This study explores the clinical application of autostereoscopic 3D laparoscopic systems in radical gastrointestinal cancer surgery. Key findings indicate that these systems demonstrate safety and efficacy comparable to traditional glasses-based 3D systems, with no significant differences in operative time, blood loss, complication rates, or lymph node harvest quality. However, certain challenges remain, including limited advantages for the entire surgical team and technical constraints such as restricted resolution and viewing angles. By identifying these limitations, this study provides valuable insights for improving the design and application of naked-eye 3D technology in minimally invasive gastrointestinal cancer procedures, paving the way for future advancements in surgical practice.