ntroduction. Currently, total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy is the standard surgical treatment for proximal gastric cancer at the resectable stages (I-III). The issue of advisability of splenectomy as a component of lymphadenectomy remains a controversial one, especially when the tumor is localized in the region of the body or cardiac region of the stomach.The aim of the study was to compare immediate and long-term outcomes, including the quality of life, between spleen preserving and spleen removing surgeries.Methods. The study included 363 patients with gastric cancer II-III stages, localized in the upper and/or the middle third of the stomach, who underwent surgery at the Voronezh Regional Clinical Oncology Hospital and the Voronezh Clinical Hospital of the Russian Railway-Medicine in 2015-2017. All patients were conditionally divided into 2 groups for comparative retrospective analysis. All patients of the first (experimental or spleen-preserved) group (144 patients) were performed R0 total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy, including splenic hilar nodes (№ 10,11) removal without splenectomy. Patients of the second (control or splenectomy) group (219 patients) were performed R0 total gastrectomy with D2 lymphadenectomy and prophylactic splenectomy (for splenic hilar nodes removal).Results. The average duration of the operation and the volume of blood loss did not differ in both groups. The incidence of early postoperative surgical complications was lower in the spleen-preserved group. Splenectomy was associated with more severe complications of class 4 and 5 according to the Clavien-Dindo classification. Conclusion. Parameters of the 1- and 3-year overall survival rate did not differ in both groups. The results of the GSRS questionnaire were similar in both groups, excluding reflux-esophageal symptoms scale. The reflux scale demonstrated a statistically and clinically significant advantage of spleen preservation.
Immediate and Long-Term Results of the Spleen-Preserved Operations in the Surgical Treatment of Gastric Cancer