Are you afraid of stomach cancer treatment without knowing the benefits of advanced treatment options?
Stomach cancer surgery can be a painful process if open surgery is done. It leads to blood loss, complications, long hospital stays, and a long time of recovery.
Thanks to advancements in modern surgery
Robotic gastrectomy and laparoscopic surgery can reduce your recovery time and give you an almost painless experience post-surgery. The tumor board can help you choose the right surgery at the right cost.
What are the different types of stomach cancer surgery?
1. Laparoscopic Gastrectomy
The modern approach to treat both early and advanced stomach cancer is laparoscopic gastrectomy. The blood loss is less, pain is minimal and the surgery time is much less as compared to open surgery.
In some cases, laparoscopic surgery is not possible. These are the cases where cancer has spread to the colon or pancreas.
Post-operative chemotherapy and radiotherapy are possible after laparoscopic surgery and the treatment may be well tolerated by the patients.
Recovery Time for Laparoscopic Gastrectomy
Hospital stay also depends on the type of surgery- open surgery or laparoscopy. It takes several months to get recovered from stomach cancer surgery. One can experience weight loss during this period and he is advised to take sufficient rest.
Recovery time for laparoscopic gastrectomy is much less than open surgery
Hospital stay and cost for Laparoscopic Gastrectomy
As there is much less blood loss, the hospital stay is for 4-5 days.
The cost of the procedure is however higher as compared to open stomach cancer surgery. The average cost of stomach cancer surgery in India is around 2823 – 6385 USD (2.10 lakh – 4.75 lakhs INR).
Price may vary from hospital to hospital and also on the stage of cancer.
2. Robot-assisted laparoscopic gastrectomy
In robot-assisted laparoscopic gastrectomy, it is possible to remove the cancerous tissue precisely along with the lymph nodes, The manual activity of the surgeon can be avoided completely. This improves navigating more precisely in the gastric cavity without too much blood loss from the splenic or celiac artery.
In robot-assisted surgery, the quality of the images is excellent, and the surgery can be done very precisely with very minimal blood loss.
Recovery Time for Robot-assisted Laparoscopic Gastrectomy
In robot-assisted surgery, the arteries and veins are not damaged if not necessary and there is no major blood loss, so the recovery time is much less as compared to the laparoscopic manual surgery and open surgery.
Hospital stay and cost for Laparoscopic Gastrectomy
In robot-assisted laparoscopic stomach cancer surgery, the hospital stay is for 2-3 days (much less as compared to manual laparoscopic surgery), but the cost may be on the higher side.
The cost of robotic surgery in India ranges from 7500 to 9500 USD (573843 – 726868 INR)
What are the side effects of stomach cancer surgery?
1. Nausea:
Nausea can be a side effect of stomach cancer surgery as the food ingested may not be digested completely. The food directly goes to the intestine and may not be absorbed properly
2. Abdominal Pain:
Abdominal pain can be felt after surgery from inflamed tissues. There may be blood clots or damaged capillaries and arteries.
3. Heartburn:
It is very common after surgery as a result of indigestion.
What should be the Diet after stomach cancer surgery?
1. Putting feeding tube:
After gastrectomy, or removal of cancer tissues and lymph nodes, it may be possible to go for a surgical and image-guided procedure to put a feeding tube through the abdominal wall or the wall of the stomach.
Depending on the position where the tube is placed, it is called a gastrostomy (G) or a jejunostomy(J) tube.
A small water-filled balloon and discs are added to the end of the tube towards the skin so that the tube does not come out. Initially, the patient is given clear fluid before starting the feeding process.
2. Vitamin and Iron Supplements:
Iron – As a result of stomach cancer surgery, less acid is secreted by the stomach. This makes the absorption of iron difficult from the stomach. Iron supplementation is needed as a lack of iron can lead to anemia.
Vitamin B12– Vitamin B12 is absorbed in the body with the help of a chemical called intrinsic factor which is made in the lining of the stomach.
Lack of intrinsic factors after stomach cancer surgery can reduce the absorption of vitamin B12 which can lead to pernicious anemia.
Vitamin B12 injections are generally prescribed after stomach cancer surgery.
Risks of Gastric Cancer Surgery – What to know before and after surgery
The main risks of gastric surgery that you should know before the surgery are the following
There may be internal bleeding from the cuts and joins the surgeon has made during surgery
Apart from that, there may be scarring of the esophagus due to leakage of acid from the stomach.
There may also be wound infection or blockage of the small intestine
You may feel morning vomiting symptoms because your stomach has been removed and the ingested food becomes too heavy to digest for you.
What is the cost of stomach cancer surgery?
The cost of stomach cancer surgery is available on the following page.
Choosing the Right Treatment for Stomach Cancer
MedicoExperts can help you choose the right treatment because it has a dedicated tumor board consisting of surgical oncologists, radiologists, and medical oncologists.
For both advanced and open surgery, you can contact MedicoExperts.
MedicoExperts has an expert panel of doctors who perform surgery at an affordable cost and also take proper care after surgery.
FAQ:
Q.1 Is stomach cancer curable with surgery?
Ans: Stomach cancer is curable with surgery and the survival rate is more than 70% if the cancer has not spread to other organs.
Q2. At what stage stomach cancer is curable?
Ans: Stomach cancer is curable if it has not spread to the distant organs like the colon, liver, or pancreas
Q3. What is the success rate of stomach cancer surgery?
Ans: 70% of people who underwent stomach cancer surgery will survive for more than 5 years after surgery.
