Determining resection margins for gastric cancer, which are not exposed to the serosal surface of the stomach, is the most important procedure during totally laparoscopic gastrectomy (TLG). The aim of this protocol is to introduce a procedure for intraoperative gastroscopy, in order to directly mark tumors during TLG for gastric cancer in the middle third of the stomach. Patients who were diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in the middle third of the stomach were enrolled in this case series. Before surgery, additional gastroscopy for tumor localization is not performed. Under general anesthesia, laparoscopic mobilization of the stomach is performed first. After the first portion of the duodenum is mobilized from the pancreas and clamped, the surgeon moves to the other side for the gastroscopic procedure. On the insertion of a gastroscope through the oral cavity into the stomach, 2 -3 cc of indigo carmine is administered via an endoscopic injector into the gastric muscle layer at the proximal margin of the stomach. The location of stained serosa in the laparoscopic view is used to guide distal subtotal gastrectomy, however, total gastrectomy is performed if the tumor is too close to the esophagogastric junction. A specimen is sampled after distal gastrectomy to confirm sufficient length from resection margin to tumor before reconstruction. In our case series, all patients had tumor-free margins and required no additional resection. There was no morbidity related to the gastroscopic procedure, and the time required for the procedure has gradually decreased to about five minutes. Intraoperative gastroscopy for tumor localization is an accurate and tolerated method for gastric cancer patients undergoing totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy.

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Introduction Textbook outcome is a composite quality measurement of short-term outcomes for evaluating complex surgical procedures. We compared textbook outcome and survival of robotic total gastrectomy(RTG) with those of laparoscopic total gastrectomy(LTG).Methods We retrospectively reviewed 395patients(RTG,n = 74;LTG,n = 321) who underwent curative total gastrectomy for gastric cancer via minimally invasive approaches from 2009 to 2018. We performed propensity score matched analysis to adjust for potential selection bias. Textbook outcome included a negative resection margin, no intraoperative complication, retrieved lymph nodes > 15, no severe complication, no reintervention, no unplanned intensive care unit admission, hospitalisation ≤ 21days, no readmission after discharge, and no postoperative mortality. Survival outcomes included 5-year overall and relapse-free survival rates.Results After matching, 74patients in each group were selected. Textbook outcome was similar in the RTG and LTG groups(70.3% and 75.7%,respectively), although RTG required a longer operative time. The quality metric least often achieved was the presence of severe complications in both groups(77.0% in both groups). There were no differences in the 5-year overall survival rate(90.7% and 85.9%,respectively;log-rank P = 0.144) and relapse-free survival rate between the RTG and LTG groups(89.5% and 85.2%,respectively;log-rank P = 0.167).Conclusion Textbook outcome and survival outcome of RTG were comparable to those of LTG for gastric cancer.