Intraoperative conversion from laparoscopic gastrectomy to an open procedure: a decade of experience in a Japanese high-volume center.

Over a decade of experience and procedural changes have markedly decreased the incidence of conversion to open surgery in LG. The main causes of conversion during the early period of LG introduction were difficulties in reconstruction and intraoperative bleeding; the incidences of these complications have been decreased by employing the appropriate procedures for LG.