Robotic and endoscopic cooperative surgery in the third space for the resection of gastric submucosal tumors

Objective To evaluate combined robotic and endoscopic surgery in the third space for gastric submucosal tumors(SMTs). Methods Combined surgery in 4 patients were compared with 19 patients who underwent laparoscopic wedge resection between Aug 2017 and Feb 2018. Results R0 resection was achieved in all combined surgery patients. The operation time was longer (112±29 )min vs. (93±11 ) min (t=2.338, P 0.05), and shorter hospital stay (6.5±1.3) d vs.( 8.5±0.6) d (t=4.902, P<0.01), but a little higher hospitalization costs(57 651±10 097)rmb vs.(42 620±5 086)rmb (t=4.508, P<0.01). There were no major postoperative complications occurred in neither groups, nor tumor recurrences after 3-month follow-up. Conclusion Combined robotic and endoscopic surgery in the third space for submucosal gastric tumors is a novel operation with short operation time, less blood loss and good result. Key words: Stomach neoplasms; Robotics; Laparoscopy