Is there any long-term benefit in quality of life after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy for gastric cancer?

Quality of life beyond the early postoperative period after laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy: the level of patient expectation as the essence of quality of life

BACKGROUND

The aim of this study was to compare the quality of life after the early postoperative period and before reaching 5 years postoperatively between patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (Group A) and patients who underwent open distal subtotal gastrectomy (Group B).

METHODS

The Korean versions of the European Organization for Research and Treatment (EORTC) Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 30 (QLQ-C30) and a gastric cancer-specific module, the EORTC QLQ-STO22, were used to assess the quality of life of 80 patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy or open distal subtotal gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The postoperative period ranged between 6 months and 5 years.

RESULTS

The global health status/quality of life scores of Groups A and B were 56.0 ± 19.0 and 57.4 ± 18.2, respectively (p = 0.729). Group A experienced worse quality of life in role functioning (p = 0.026), cognitive functioning (p = 0.034), fatigue (p = 0.039), eating restrictions (p = 0.009), and anxiety (p = 0.033). Group A showed a trend to experience worse quality of life in physical functioning, emotional functioning, social functioning, insomnia, and body image, albeit without statistical significance.

CONCLUSION

After the early postoperative period and before achieving long-term survival, patients who underwent laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy appeared to experience lower quality of life compared to patients who underwent open distal subtotal gastrectomy. This finding may be associated with the patients' erroneously high expectations of laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy.

[Patients with gastric cancer submitted to gastrectomy: an integrative review]

This study aims to analyze the scientific production about patients with gastric cancer submitted to gastrectomy and describe important aspects of nursing guidelines for these patients. An integrative review was carried out using Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde (LILACS) and Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) databases; twenty two articles were analyzed. Retrospective cross-sectional studies were the most frequent. The scientific production of nursing is numerically small in relation to the medical area. The results show that approaches related to pre and post-operative in gastrectomy for gastric cancer resection subsidize the knowledge of issues essential for nurses to promote efficient intervention for the recovery of such patients. There is still the need for further research on the practice of nursing in the guidelines of this kind of surgery.