• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.40 no.5
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• pp.873-877
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• 2019

Background: In many patients with chronic abdominal pain after gastrectomy, an exact cause often cannot be identified, even after extensive examinations. This creates difficulties in establishing an effective treatment. Case summary: A 55-year-old man was admitted with chronic abdominal pain following gastrectomy performed to treat gastric cancer. Acupuncture and traditional herbal medicine were administered for 38 days, and the pain gradually improved during the hospitalization. The abdominal pain had not subsided completely at discharge, but it was reduced to a level where the patient had no inconvenience in his daily life. Conclusion: In this case, traditional Korean medicine appeared to be an effective therapeutic option for patients with chronic abdominal pain after gastrectomy.

• Clinical Nutrition Research
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2023

Gastrectomy is the most effective method of treating gastric cancer, but it is commonly associated with weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, and the increased risk of malnutrition due to post-surgery complications, including gastric stasis, dumping syndrome, malabsorption, and maldigestion. Malnutrition is a risk factor for postoperative complications and poor prognosis. To prevent it and guarantee a quick recovery after surgery, continuous and individualized nutrition intervention should be performed both before surgery and postoperatively. The Department of Dietetics at Samsung Medical Center (SMC) performed nutritional status assessment before gastrectomy, initial nutritional assessment within 24 hours of admission, description of therapeutic diet after surgery, nutrition counselling before discharge, and nutritional status assessment and individual nutrition counselling after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months from surgery. This is a case report of a patient who underwent gastrectomy as well as intensive nutrition intervention in SMC.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.320-328
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• 2004

Gastrectomy is the most common treatment for gastric cancer, but patients often suffer from post-operative side effects. This study describes the clinical effects of HyangSaPyungWiSan on a pateint who suffered from nausea, vomitting, indigestion, headache, abdomen pain, and loss of appetite after his gastrectomy. The patient undewent a gastrectomy due to gastric cancer, and HyangSaPyungWiSan was used to treat all thses symptoms. This study suggests that treatment with HyangSaPyungWiSan is effectious for such aftereffects of gastrectomy as nausea, vomitting, indigestion, headache, abdomen pain, and loss of appetite.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate the prevalence of esophageal reflux-induced symptoms after gastrectomy owing to gastric cancer and assess the relationship between esophageal reflux-induced symptoms and quality of life. Materials and Methods: From January 2012 to May 2012, 332 patients were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. The patients had a history of curative resection for gastric cancer at least 6 months previously without recurrence, other malignancy, or ongoing chemotherapy. Esophageal reflux-induced symptoms were evaluated with the GerdQ questionnaire. The quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Research and Treatment QLQ-C30 and STO22 questionnaires. Results: Of the 332 patients, 275 had undergone subtotal gastrectomy and 57 had undergone total gastrectomy. The number of GerdQ(+) patients was 58 (21.1%) after subtotal gastrectomy, and 7 (12.3%) after total gastrectomy (P=0.127). GerdQ(+) patients showed significantly worse scores compared to those for GerdQ(-) patients in nearly all functional and symptom QLQ-C30 scales, with the difference in the mean score of global health status/quality of life and diarrhea symptoms being higher than in the minimal important difference. Additionally, in the QLQ STO22, GerdQ(+) patients had significantly worse scores in every symptom scale. The GerdQ score was negatively correlated with the global quality of life score (r=-0.170, P=0.002). Conclusions: Esophageal reflux-induced symptoms may develop at a similar rate or more frequently after subtotal gastrectomy compared to that after total gastrectomy, and decrease quality of life in gastric cancer patients. To improve quality of life after gastrectomy, new strategies are required to prevent or reduce esophageal reflux.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.16-29
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• 2012

The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in nutritional status of gastrectomy patients. The anthropometric and biochemical data were measured at pre-operation, at discharge, 1 month after discharge, and 3 months after discharge. Nutrient intake levels, nutrients adequacy ratio (NAR), mean adequacy ratio (MAR), and the proportion of patients with intake levels inferior to those of dietary reference intakes (DRIs) were analyzed at discharge, 1 month after discharge, and 3 months after discharge. Finally, the data on 23 patients (15 male and 8 female) were collected and used for statistical analysis. Fifteen patients underwent subtotal gastrectomy, and 8 patients underwent total gastrectomy. Compared to pre-operation, body weight and body mass index of subjects significantly decreased at discharge, 1 month after discharge, and 3 months after discharge (P<0.001). Serum albumin (P<0.001), total lympocyte count (P<0.001), total cholesterol (P<0.001), hemoglobin (P<0.001), hematocrit (P<0.001), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (P<0.05) were significantly different between pre-operation, at discharge, 1 month after discharge, and 3 months after discharge. The proportions of patients with lower nutrient intake levels than DRIs were substantial. MAR at discharge, 1 month after discharge, and 3 months after discharge were 0.70, 0.80 and 0.91, respectively. Especially, the NARs of folate, niacin, vitamin $B_2$, vitamin C, and zinc were all low. Considering the various nutritional problems of gastrectomy patients, systematic medical nutrition therapy is needed after gastrectomy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.240-246
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• 2016

Purpose: It is hypothesized that robotic gastrectomy may surpass laparoscopic gastrectomy after the operators acquire long-term experience and skills in the manipulation of robotic arms. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term learning curve of robotic distal gastrectomy (RDG) for gastric cancer compared with laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG). Materials and Methods: From October 2008 to December 2015, patients who underwent LDG (n=809) were matched to patients who underwent RDG (n=232) at a 1:1 ratio, by using a propensity score matching method after stratification for the operative year. The surgical outcomes, such as trends of operative time, blood loss, and complication rate, were compared between the two groups. Results: The RDG group showed a longer operative time (171.3 minutes vs. 147.6 minutes, P<0.001) but less estimated blood loss (77.6 ml vs. 116.6 ml, P<0.001). The complication rate and postoperative recovery did not differ between the two groups. The RDG group showed a longer operative time and similar estimated blood loss compared with the LDG group after 5 years of experience (operative time: 159.2 minutes vs. 136.0 minutes in 2015, P=0.003; estimated blood loss: 72.9 ml vs. 78.1 ml in 2015, P=0.793). Conclusions: In terms of short-term surgical outcomes, RDG may not surpass LDG after a long-term experience with the technique.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.69-74
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• 2010

Purpose: Laparoscopic gastrectomy has been common treatment modality for gastric cancer. But, most surgeons tend to perform laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy using epigastric incision. Delta-shaped anastomosis is known as intracorporeal gastroduodenostomy, but it is technically difficult and needed many staplers. So we tried to find simple and economical method, here we report on the results of liner-shaped gastroduodenostomy in totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 25 patients who underwent totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy using liner-shaped anastomosis at School of Medicine, Ajou University between January to October 2009. The indication was early gastric cancer as diagnosed by preoperative workup, the anastomoses were performed by using laparoscopic linear stapler. Results: There were 12 female and 13 male patients with a mean age of $55.6{\pm}11.2$. The following procedures were performed 14 laparoscopic gastrectomies, 11 robotic gastrectomies. The mean operation time was $179.5{\pm}27.4$ minutes, the mean anastomotic time was $17.5{\pm}3.4$ minutes. The mean number of stapler cartridges was $5.6{\pm}0.8$. Postoperative complication occurred in one patient, anastomotic stenosis, and the patient required reoperation to gastrojejunostomy. The mean length of postoperative hospital stay was $6.7{\pm}1.0$ days except the complication case, and there was no case of conversion to open procedure and postoperative mortality. Conclusions: Linear-shaped gastroduodenostomy in totally laparoscopic distal gastrectomy is technically simple and feasible method.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.417-426
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• 2019

Purpose: Although an increased incidence of gallbladder (GB) stone formation after gastrectomy has been reported, its etiology remains uncertain. The goal of this study was to explore the incidence of gallstone formation after gastrectomy in gastric cancer patients and investigate the risk factors therein. Materials and Methods: Medical records of patients who underwent curative gastrectomy, performed by a single surgeon between August 2012 and December 2015 at the Asan Medical Center, were retrospectively reviewed. Baseline characteristics and surgical outcomes, including GB stone gallstone formation after gastrectomy, were analyzed. Results: Of 561 patients included in the study, 36 presented with GB stone formation after gastrectomy for gastric cancer. The incidence of gallstone formation was 6.4%. The mean interval between gallstone formation and gastrectomy was 21.9 months. In multivariate analyses, the incidence of gallstone formation increased in patients 63 years or older, with greater than 6.2 kg weight loss in the first 6 months after the procedure, a preoperative serum total bilirubin level greater than 0.5 mg/dL, and in patients who did not receive adjuvant chemotherapy. Conclusions: This study presented risk factors for GB stone formation after gastric cancer surgery, and special attention should be afforded to patients with such risk factors.

• Quality Improvement in Health Care
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.15-26
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• 2012

Background : Many gastrectomy patients have experienced poor intake and it was cause of the decreasing nutritional status. The purpose of this study was to identify the amount of the intake food and the influencing factors among gastrectomy patients. Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted with 163 patients who underwent gastrectomy. Data were collected through self-report questionnaires and chart review about demographic, clinical, nutritional status and dietary information and were analyzed with the SPSS 20.0 WIN program. Result : Among 163 patients, the group with over 3/4 intake food was 115(70.5%). The group with 1/2 intatke was 30(18.4%) and the group with the lowest intake of 1/4 was 18(11.1%). There were significant differences in single amount of intake food by patient's subjective feeling(P<.001). Single amount of intake food among three groups were no significant difference in type of gastrectomy, hospital length, body mass index and albumin level. Conclusion : The findings of the study showed that single amount of the intake food was correlated with subjective feeling of patients. Therefore, subjective feelings should be considered important factors in developing diet program for patients with gastrectomy.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.235-247
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• 2022

Purpose: Most studies have investigated the differences in postgastrectomy quality of life (QOL) based on the surgical procedure or reconstruction method adopted; only a few studies have compared QOL based on tumor location. This large-scale study aims to investigate the differences in QOL between patients with esophagogastric junction cancer (EGJC) and those with upper third gastric cancer (UGC) undergoing the same gastrectomy procedure to evaluate the impact of tumor location on postoperative QOL. Methods: The Postgastrectomy Syndrome Assessment Scale-45 (PGSAS-45) questionnaire was distributed in 70 institutions to 2,364 patients who underwent gastrectomy for EGJC or UGC. A total of 1,909 patients were eligible for the study, and 1,744 patients who underwent total gastrectomy (TG) or proximal gastrectomy (PG) were selected for the final analysis. These patients were divided into EGJC and UGC groups; thereafter, the PGSAS-45 main outcome measures (MOMs) were compared between the two groups for each type of gastrectomy. Results: Among the post-TG patients, only one MOM was significantly better in the UGC group than in the EGJC group. Conversely, among the post-PG patients, postoperative QOL was significantly better in 6 out of 19 MOMs in the UGC group than in the EGJC group. Conclusions: Tumor location had a minimal effect on the postoperative QOL of post-TG patients, whereas among post-PG patients, there were definite differences in postoperative QOL between the two groups. It seems reasonable to conservatively estimate the benefits of PG in patients with EGJC compared to those in patients with UGC.