Modified abdominal wall retractor for total laparoscopic esophagojejunostomy in gastric cancer

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the two groups, n (%)/mean ± SD

Factor	TA group (n = 51)	LCA group (n = 33)	t/χ2	P value
Age (year)	60.78 ± 8.57	62.03 ± 10.08	-0.607	0.546
Sex			0.359	0.549
Male	40	24
Female	11	9
BMI (kg/m2)	22.98 ± 1.85	22.29 ± 2.32	1.524	0.131
ASA score			0.082	0.775
I/II	40	25
III	11	8
WBC before surgery (× 109/L)	5.36 ± 1.90	5.41 ± 1.58	-0.105	0.912
Hb before surgery (g/L)	112.22 ± 13.04	115.22 ± 14.24	-0.986	0.327
ALB before surgery (g/L)	35.73 ± 3.83	35.00 ± 4.28	0.809	0.421
Siewert type			2.218	0.136
II	38	29
III	13	4
Tumor diameter (cm)	4.54 ± 1.13	4.62 ± 1.25	-0.323	0.784
Degree of differentiation			0.000	1.000
Well/moderate	7	5
Worse	44	28
TNM stage			2.254	0.133
I/II	25	27
III	26	6
Presence of vascular thrombus invasion			0.703	0.402
Yes	31	17
No	20	16
Perineural invasion			1.348	0.246
Yes	15	6
No	36	27

LCA: Laparoscopic circular-stapled anastomosis; TA: Traditional anastomosis; ALB: Albumin; ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists; BMI: Body mass index; Hb: Hemoglobin; TNM: Tumor, node, metastasis; WBC: White blood cell.

Table 2 Comparison of surgical and postoperative recovery-related indicators between the two groups, mean ± SD

Factor	TA group (n = 51)	LCA group (n = 33)	t/χ2	P value
Operation time (minute)	260.47 ± 62.05	333.58 ± 90.77	-2.767	0.007
Anastomosis time (minute)	60.39 ± 18.38	72.73 ± 24.01	-2.659	0.009
Blood loss (mL)	101.76 ± 95.03	113.03 ± 133.57	-0.452	0.653
Lymph node number	25.39 ± 7.16	27.88 ± 9.68	-1.352	0.180
First exhaust time (day)	2.96 ± 0.75	3.00 ± 0.71	-0.240	0.811
First defecation time (day)	4.61 ± 1.46	4.70 ± 1.31	-0.285	0.777
Drainage tube removal time (day)	7.39 ± 1.91	7.73 ± 2.13	-0.751	0.455
Postoperative hospitalization (day)	8.55 ± 1.59	8.42 ± 1.35	0.372	0.711
Total length of incision (cm)	16.27 ± 1.95	7.79 ± 1.43	21.513	< 0.01
Anastomotic leakage (yes/no)	1/50	1/32		1.000
Clavien-Dindo grade			0.483	0.923
I	11	6
II	12	8
III	8	4

LCA: Laparoscopic circular-stapled anastomosis; TA: Traditional anastomosis.

Table 3 Baseline characteristics of patients treated before and after overcoming the learning curve, mean ± SD

Factor	Pre-learning curve (n = 11)	Post-learning curve (n = 22)	t/χ2	P value
Age (year)	66.64 ± 8.51	60.23 ± 10.50	1.48	0.149
Sex			0.000	1.000
Male	8	16
Female	3	6
BMI (kg/m2)	21.78 ± 1.88	22.60 ± 2.45	-0.966	0.342
ASA score				0.586
I/II	9	20
III	2	2
WBC before surgery (× 109/L)	5.71 ± 1.63	5.23 ± 1.57	0.776	0.444
Hb before surgery (g/L)	117.82 ± 13.17	114.73 ± 15.10	0.577	0.568
ALB before surgery (g/L)	36.00 ± 5.31	34.50 ± 3.70	0.948	0.351
Siewert type				0.375
II	8	19
III	3	3
Tumor diameter (cm)	4.14 ± 1.82	4.87 ± 0.80	-1.622	0.115
Degree of differentiation				1.000
Well/moderate	2	3
Worse	9	19
TNM stage				1.000
I/II	9	18
III	2	4

ALB: Albumin; ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists; BMI: Body mass index; Hb: Hemoglobin; TNM: Tumor, node, metastasis; WBC: White blood cell.

Table 4 Surgical and postoperative recovery-related indicators in patients treated before and after overcoming the learning curve, mean ± SD

Factor	Pre-learning curve (n = 11)	Post-learning curve (n = 22)	t/χ2	P value
Operation time (minute)	386.63 ± 91.02	307.05 ± 81.00	2.458	0.020
Anastomosis time (minute)	95.45 ± 25.05	61.36 ± 13.20	5.158	< 0.01
Blood loss (mL)	163.64 ± 218.65	87.73 ± 50.33	1.574	0.126
No. of lymph nodes	24.27 ± 9.71	29.68 ± 9.36	-1.546	0.132
First exhaust time (day)	2.91 ± 0.54	3.05 ± 0.79	-0.516	0.609
First defecation time (day)	4.91 ± 1.30	4.59 ± 1.33	0.651	0.520
Drainage tube removal time (day)	7.36 ± 2.16	7.91 ± 2.14	-0.689	0.496
Postoperative hospitalization (day)	8.36 ± 1.63	8.45 ± 1.22	-0.180	0.858
Total length of incision (cm,)	8.27 ± 1.56	7.55 ± 1.34	1.397	0.172
Anastomotic leakage (yes/no)	1/10	0/22		0.333
Clavien–Dindo grade
I	2	4		1.000
II	3	5	0.000	1.000
III	2	2		0.586