Laparoscopic Gastrectomy for Cancer

The first laparoscopy-assisted gastrectomy for gastric cancer was performed in Japan in 1991. In the ensuing 20 years, at first through a process of trial and error, then through the sharing of master surgeons’ accumulated experience, the procedure has been honed and refined to its current high level. From the beginning, it soon became evident that this much less invasive form of gastrectomy, in comparison with traditional open surgery, led to improved quality of life for postsurgical patients,