Laparoscopic Endoscopic Cooperative Surgery: Current Status and Perspective

Laparoscopic endoscopic cooperative surgery (LECS) is now performed worldwide as a result of the invention of new operative techniques. It is seromuscular resection by laparoscopy for gastric submucosal tumors such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs). Endoscopic dissection of the mucosal to the submucosal layer determines the appropriate incision line, resects the tumor, and closes the visceral wall defect. Various minimally invasive LECS techniques are now well established. LECS-associated techniques, adaptation of them, and challenges for the future are reviewed in this chapter.