Feasibility of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Without Prophylactic Abdominal Drainage Tubes After Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy For Gastric Cancer

NCT07029269 | Recruiting Phase 3 DMC

• 1 other identifier: LanzhouU2H-2025A-540
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 454
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 6

Brief Summary

This study aims to compare the effects of using prophylactic abdominal drainage tubes during Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) in patients undergoing Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy (LDG) for gastric cancer through a multicenter non-inferiority randomized trial. The study is divided into two groups: 1. ERAS-tubeless group: The ERAS protocol without nasogastric decompression, nasojejunal feeding or prophylactic abdominal drainage tubes. 2. ERAS-tube group: the ERAS protocol with prophylactic abdominal drainage tubes, along with no nasogastric decompression or nasojejunal feeding tubes. Patients will be randomly assigned to the two groups in a 1:1 ratio, with the primary analysis based on the modified intention-to-treat population (mITT) and secondary analysis on the per-protocol (PP) population. Perioperative management will adhere to ERAS guidelines, and postoperative quality of life will be assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and QoR-15 scores. Preliminary training on the standard ERAS protocol is administered to all members in the team before the initiation of the study, ensuring in-group members to fully master the requirements and other related contents in the study. Data collectors, analysts, and outcome evaluators will remain blinded to group allocation. The findings of this study are expected to provide high-quality evidence on the feasibility of omitting prophylactic abdominal drainage in the context of ERAS, thereby contributing to the optimization of postoperative management strategies for gastric cancer surgery.

Conditions

Gastric Adenocarcinoma; Laparoscopic Gastrectomy; Complications

Keywords

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery; tubeless; gastric adenocarcinoma; laparoscopic distal gastrectomy

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Cumulative incidence of reoperation and/or percutaneous drainage placement by the 30th postoperative day.

  It refers to the total proportion of patients who, by the 30th day after their surgery, undergo either a reoperation or the placement of a percutaneous drainage device. The cumulative incidence considers all patients who experience one or both of these outcomes by the 30th day after surgery, providing insight into the postoperative recovery process.

  The 30th day after surgery

Secondary Outcomes (9)

• Postoperative hospital stay

  It is expected to take 6 to 10 days

• Overall 30 days morbidity or in hospital if longer than 30 days.

  The 30th day after surgery

• 30 days readmission rate and overall 90 days mortality.

  Postoperative Day 30 and Day 90

• EORTC QLQ-C30

  Baseline, Postoperative Day 7 and Day 30

• Quality of postoperative recovery.

  Baseline, Postoperative Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, and the Day of Discharge

Study Arms (2)

ERAS-tubeless group

EXPERIMENTAL

Nasogastric decompression tube is not placed preoperatively; If necessary, nasogastric decompression tube is placed after anesthesia induction during surgery and removed when the reconstruction is performed; No abdominal drainage and nasojejunal feeding tubes were placed intraoperatively; None of these 3 tubes were present postoperatively.

Procedure: ERAS-tubeless group

ERAS-tube group

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Nasogastric decompression tube is not placed preoperatively; If necessary, nasogastric decompression tube is placed after anesthesia induction during surgery and removed when the reconstruction is performed; Nasojejunal feeding tube is not placed intraoperatively; 1 prophylactic abdominal drainage tube is placed at the duodenal stump for LDG and retained postoperatively.

Procedure: ERAS-tube group

Interventions

ERAS-tubeless group PROCEDURE

Nasogastric decompression tube is not placed preoperatively; If necessary, nasogastric decompression tube is placed after anesthesia induction during surgery and removed when the reconstruction is performed; No abdominal drainage and nasojejunal feeding tubes were placed intraoperatively; None of these 3 tubes were present postoperatively.

ERAS-tubeless group

ERAS-tube group PROCEDURE

Nasogastric decompression tube is not placed preoperatively; If necessary, nasogastric decompression tube is placed after anesthesia induction during surgery and removed when the reconstruction is performed; Nasojejunal feeding tube is not placed intraoperatively; 1 prophylactic abdominal drainage tube is placed at the duodenal stump for LDG and retained postoperatively.

ERAS-tube group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 80 Years
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Patients' age from 18 to 80 years old;
• Histopathologically confirmed gastric adenocarcinoma;
• Clinical tumor stage of cT1-4N0-3M0;
• Laparoscopic distal gastrectomy approach;
• ECOG score of 0-1;
• Written informed consent

You may not qualify if:

• Patients with severe concurrent illness or comorbid diseases;
• Patients with severe pyloric obstruction, recurrent or remnant gastric cancer; 3. Patients with perforation, or undergoing emergency surgery;
• \. Patients with a history of radiotherapy; 5. Patients undergoing complex abdominal surgeries other than laparoscopic cholecystectomy or appendectomy; 6. Patients with peritoneal, hepatic or ovarian metastasis, or simultaneous tumors in other parts of the body preoperatively and intraoperatively; 7. Patients with diabetes and poor recent glycemic control; 8. Patients with autoimmune diseases who have received corticosteroid treatment; 9. Patients with a BMI ≥30 kg/m2 or \<18 kg/m2; 10. Patients with gastrointestinal hemorrhage and hemoglobin levels below 90 g/L; 11. Patients with hypoproteinemia and albumin levels below 30 g/L; 12. Patients with portal hypertension; 13. Patients with severe edema or dense fibrosis intraoperatively after neoadjuvant therapy; 14. Patients with intraoperative findings of duodenal invasion; 15. Patients with combined organ resection; 16. Reconstruction different from BillrothⅡand Braun anastomosis; 17. Patients with preoperative pathological examination inconsistent with postoperative result; 18. Declined to participate; 19. Patients with poor compliance and withdrew from the study halfway

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Zuoyi Jiao: lead

Study Sites (6)

International Hospital of Pecking University

Beijing, Beijing Municipality, 102206, China

RECRUITING

Fujian Medical University Union Hospital

Fuzhou, Fujian, 350001, China

RECRUITING

Lanzhou University Second Hospital

Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China

RECRUITING

Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center Gansu Hospital

Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China

RECRUITING

Zhejiang Cancer Hospital

Zhejiang, Hangzhou, 310005, China

RECRUITING

The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi'an Jiaotong University

Xi'an, Xi'an City, 710061, China

RECRUITING

Central Study Contacts

Zuoyi Jiao, M.D.

CONTACT

+86-0931-5190920; jiaozy@lzu.edu.cn

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: phase 3
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Medical Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: May 24, 2025
• First Posted: June 19, 2025
• Study Start: June 16, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 10, 2028
• Last Updated: December 17, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CN (6)